Unity
by Finmonster
Summary: Months have passed since the Second Battle of San Fransokyo, and the newly christened Big Hero 9 have settled into the routine of being the city's local superhero. But when a new villain with his eye on not just them, but all the world's superheroes comes knocking, the rookie heroes will have to team up with heroes new and old to take him down. Sequel to Empathy.
1. Cold Open

**Unity**

 **Chapter 1: Cold Open**

Sirens pierced through the otherwise peaceful sounds of nightlife in San Fransokyo as the red and blue lights flashing from half a dozen police cars mixed with the bright neon colors of the advertisements clinging to the buildings flanking the cramped streets. Together, the pack of squad cars chased after another group of vehicles, specifically two cars and a pair of motorcycles who were running interference around a large, beat up looking van.

"Come on, man, floor it!" one of the men in the van, dressed in nondescript black clothing with a black ski mask pulled over his face, "We got to lose these cops!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" the driver shouted back, "I need to the others to get these pigs off my back or we're never getting out of here with the goods!"

In response, one of the men on a motorcycle reached into his pocket and pulled out a submachine gun, which he pointed back at the pursuing police officers and opened fire with.

"Jesus Christ!" one of the officers shouted, swerving off the road as his cruiser was riddled with bullets.

"This is Car Six One Six calling Dispatch!" another officer shouted into his cruiser's radio, "We are in pursuit of suspects in the robbery of San Fransokyo National Bank, but these guys are packing too much heat for us! We need backup!"

"Car Six One Six, this is Dispatch," a woman on the other end of the radio replied, "Backup is on its way and will rendezvous with you in a few minutes."

"A few minutes!?" the officer exclaimed a man armed with an assault rifle leaned out of one of the car's and open fired, forcing the officer to duck down as a bullet pierced his windshield, "We need backup now, damnit!"

As the officer's shout echoed across the airwaves, a new sound came from overhead.

"Hey, is anyone else hearing that?" one of the officer's questioned.

"Yeah," another officer confirmed, "It sounds like….a guitar?"

" _I can move mountains,_ " a male voice sang from above the car chase, " _I can work a miracle, work a miracle, uh oh_."

"Who the hell is singing!?" one of the officer's questioned in confusion.

" _I'll keep you like an oath_ ," the singing continued, growing louder as it did, " _"May nothing but death do us part..."_ "

"Uh, fellas," another officers said as he looked up through his windshield, a grin spreading across his face as a guitar wailed somewhere nearby, "I think our backup just arrived."

"What the hell is that!?" one of the criminals in the car shouted as most of them turned their attention towards the object approaching them, "Is that a-"

The man was interrupted as what appeared to be an olive colored van dropped out of the sky in front of them. Instead of crashing into the ground, the van seemed to hover just above the street. In place of tires, the van had four devices that resembled jet engines, the bottoms of which hummed with a strange blue energy. Four more of the devices extend from the rear of the van as well. As the van hovered above the ground it also flew backward down the street, matching speed with the fleeing vehicles and shining its headlights directly into the other van as the music pumped through its sound system.

 _She wants to dance like Uma Thurman, bury me 'til I confess!_

"Hey, boys!" the voice of a girl with an accent from somewhere in the Caribbean greeted, "How about you do us all a favor and pull over so those nice officers can arrest you?"

"Shit, it's those heroes!" one of the men in the van exclaimed.

"The Big Hero 9!" one of the officers shouted as he pounded on his steering wheel in excitement.

 _She wants to dance like Uma Thurman and I can't get you out of my head!_

"Waste 'em!" another of the criminals shouted before a multitude of guns opened fire on the van. Instead of impacting the vehicle, however, the bullets bounced uselessly off a shimmering bubble of energy that formed around the van.

"Shields are being held!" another voice exclaimed from the van.

"Always got to do it the hard way, don't we, boys?" the first voice questioned with an amused sigh.

"Split up!" one of the driver's bellowed into his walkie talkies, "Scatter! Scatter!"

In response, many of the drivers and riders slammed on their breaks and swerved around before all five vehicles shot off in different directions.

"Damnit," the pilot of the flying van swore, banging her palm against the vehicle's dashboard in frustration. She was roughly twelve years old, with caramel colored skin and green eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. She had a cloud of curly brown hair that was held back by a hair elastic. She wore an orange, zip-up hoodie over a white and blue striped t-shirt and blue jeans. A pair of red sneakers and black, fingerless driving gloves completed the outfit.

Next to her was a squat, vaguely humanoid figure. He had a large, square shaped head with a thick neck and large, expressive blue eyes. Two tentacle were curled on the side of his head and he had a large mouth filled with flat teeth. He had a pair of tentacle-like arms that ended in four-fingered hands and in place of legs he had a collection of six, short pseudopods. For clothing, he wore a simple blue wrap with purple lining, fastened at the front by a large purple button with a swirl design on it.

Flicking her sunglasses up, the girl raised one hand and placed a finger to the device nestled into her ear canal.

"They split up, Hiro," the girl stated, "What's the game plan?"

"We'll have to split up too," a young male voice answered, "Baymax and I will handle one of the cars. Tip, you drop off Fred and Go Go here so they can handle the motorcycles. Then cut off the other car and let Wasabi and Honey handle it."

"What about the van?" the girl, Tip, inquired.

"I'll handle it," a new voice, this one belonging to a girl, answered.

"Riley!" Tip exclaimed happily, "Hey girl! I didn't think you'd be coming out tonight."

"Yeah, well, my dad convinced my mom that homework could wait when there was a bank robbery happening," the girl, Riley, replied.

"Alright guys, you all know the plan," Hiro announced, "Let's take these guys down!"

 _The stench, the stench of summer sex!_

"Hell, yeah!" Tip exclaimed before she yanked on the vehicle's twin, joystick-like controls and spun the van around as it continued to shoot down the street. A moment later, the van's rear door opened, revealing two people standing on the other side.

One was a young woman of Asian descent with brown eyes and short, black hair that had streaks of purple running through the front. She was short in stature with a lean, athletic build, over which she wore a black bodysuit with red lining. Over the bodysuit, the young woman wore yellow armor that covered her chest and arms along with a matching pair of armored boots. Her head was covered by an aerodynamically designed helmet that slid an opaque windscreen over face with the push of a button on the side of the helmet. Reaching behind her, the young woman pulled a pair of yellow disks with red dots at the center from their place on her back, the disks humming as they began to hover just above her wrists at the same time as she kicked her legs, causing the similar disks that had been hovering near her thighs to lock into place next to her ankles.

 _And CK eternity, oh, hell, yes!_

The other figure was a young man roughly the same age as the woman with Caucasian features, blue eyes and dirty blonde hair that hung down to his chin and was covered by a teal beanie. He was dressed in a bulky costume that was designed to resemble a reptilian monster with a cephalothorax build, it's angry, slitted, yellow eyes and open, toothy maw centered around the young man's chest. The suit's rounded hands and feet each ended with three, black claws, with matching black spikes at the end of the suit's tail. Spots of orange mixed with the suit's mostly blue coloring on its stomach and around its eyes, complemented by orange frills on its arms. As the rear door of the van opened, the young man put on the suit's headpiece, a pair of curved, blue horns flanking an orange crest, at the center of which was a third eye that allowed the young man to see.

"Alright, Fred, Go Go," Tip said over the communicators built into the suits, "This is where you guys get off!"

 _Divide me down to the smallest I can be!_

"Let's do this, Torque!" the young man, Fred, exclaimed before letting out a whoop of joy before leaping out of the back of the van, an action that sent him flying through the air before he landed on the roof of a nearby building, leapt again, and disappeared from sight.

 _Put your, put your v-v-venom in me!_

"I'm going to kill whoever came up with these dumb superhero names," the young woman, Go Go, grumbled before she hopped out of the van, her disks spinning as they made contact with the pavement. Taking a moment to steady herself, Go Go used the momentum the drop off had given her and went skating after one of the motorcycles.

 _I can move mountains._

Speeding through the streets of San Franskoyo at breakneck speeds, Go Go quickly began closing in on one of the fleeing motorcycles.

"I've got eyes on one of the motorcycles!" Go Go declared as she drew closer to her target.

 _I can work a miracle, work a miracle, uh oh._

Glancing over his shoulder, the rider caught sight of Go Go bearing down on him. Pulling out his uzi, he leveled it at Go Go the best he could. Seeing this, Go Go held up one of her arms and squeezed her hand, causing the disk on her wrist to expand to half again its size. A moment later, the criminal opened fire with his weapon, a number of his bullets impacting Go Go's disk and deflecting off.

Suddenly, the loud blaring of a truck horn cut through the night. Glancing to his side, the criminal saw that a tanker truck was barreling down on him. Quickly grabbing the handlebars of his motorcycle, the criminal swerved around the front of the truck, the sound of screeching brakes mixing with the tanker's still blaring horn as the rider maneuvered passed it. Go Go's eyes widened in surprise as the truck ground to a stop directly in her path. Acting quickly, Go Go lay down prone, all four of her disks rolling along the pavement at blinding speeds. With her reduced height, Go Go slid underneath the truck's tank before she pushed herself back to her feet and went chasing after the biker once more.

 _I'll keep you like an oath_

Glancing back over his shoulder, the criminal did a double take as he saw Go Go still pursuing him. Grabbing his uzi again, the criminal pointed it at Go Go's speeding form. Before he could pull the trigger, Go Go hurled the other disk on her wrist at the man, the projectile whizzing through the air before striking the gun and knocking it from the man's grasp. Holding out her hand, the humming from Go Go's wrist increased, causing the disk to come spinning back to her and lock back in place.

 _"May nothing but death do us part..."_

Quickly grabbing hold of the handlebars of his motorcycle with both hands, the criminal attempted to gun the engine and outrun Go Go. However, Go Go was nonetheless able to close in on the motorcycle with frightening ease. As she approached, Go Go tapped the top of one of her disk, causing a sheath covering up what appeared to be a saw blade installed in the disk to pull back, the blade spinning to life a moment later with a metal shriek. As Go Go came up next to the motorcycle, she pulled her arm back before slamming her disk against the bike's front wheel, the saw blade biting into the tire and spokes with a shower of sparks. A moment later, the front of the motorcycle collapsed, sending the rider flying over the handlebars. With a scream, the criminal hit the ground, his momentum causing him to tumble end over end before he came to a stop a few yards away, moaning in pain as his wrecked bike came to a halt a short distance away.

"This is Go Go," the young woman said as she skidded to a halt, "I've got my guy."

 _She wants to dance like Uma Thurman!_

A few blocks away, Fred landed on top of an apartment building before rushing to the edge of the roof to look at the streets below. Quickly, Fred was able to spot the form of a fleeing motorcycle below.

"Got you!" Fred declared before he leapt from the roof. Soaring across the street, Fred planted his feet against the side of another building and leapt off, his arc carrying above and over the motorcycle and its rider.

 _Bury me 'til I confess!_

"Stop, evil doer!" Fred shouted as he bounced off another building and landed in the street directly in the motorcycle's path. Instead of stopping however, the rider gunned the engine, shooting towards Fred at a frightening speed.

 _She wants to dance like Uma Thurman!_

"I said stop!" Fred squeaked in fear before he hopped over the motorcycle just as it was about to hit him. Landing back on the street, Fred turned to see the motorcycle speeding away before he began chasing after it again, his long leaps allowing him to quickly gain ground.

 _And I can't get you out of my head_

"Fire breath!" Fred shouted as he leapt over the motorcycle a second time. As he did, a tongue of fire erupted from the suit's mouth, which Fred used to create a wall of fire that crossed the street in front of the motorcycle. Letting out a cry of surprise, the rider attempted to slam on his brakes and swerve to the side, but only succeeded in causing the vehicle to topple on its side and sent both bike and rider skidding down the street. Before either could reach the flames, Fred landed on the motorcycle, stopping it cold, causing the rider to slam into the vehicle before he lay back on the street and groaned in pain.

"You see, we could have avoided all of this if you had just stopped when I asked," Fred commented with a shrug.

 _The blood, the blood, the blood of the lamb!_

Speeding across the city rooftops, Tip piloted the van past one of the fleeing cars before flying back down to street level and coming to a stop.

"Alright, Honey, Wasabi!" Tip called over her shoulder, "You guys are up!"

In response, one of the van's sliding side doors opened and a young man and woman stepped out, allowing the van to shoot back up to the sky.

 _Is worth two lions, but here I am!_

The young man was of African descent with a tall, muscular build and brown dreadlocks that was held back from his face by a red headband. He wore a black bodysuit underneath a teal-colored breastplate with matching gauntlets and pair of loose blue pants held up by a red sash. Black boots covered his feet and his brown eyes were obscured by a opaque visor that also covered his ears.

 _And I slept in last night's clothes and tomorrow's dreams_

The young woman had a tall, willowy build with honey blonde hair that hung to the small of her back and lightly tanned skin. She wore a mauve colored bodysuit that extended to fingerless gloves on her hands under a purple and orange colored mini dress with an armored chest. A pair of mauve boots covered her feet while a purple helmet with orange highlights and an opaque visor sat on her head. A large, orange purse was slung around her shoulders, a heart-shaped display screen built into the front while a variety of multicolored balls lined the strap.

 _But they're not quite what they seem!_

"You ready for this, Honey?" the young man questioned as he flicked his wrists, causing blades of aqua blue energy to erupt from his gauntlets.

"I'm ready, Wasabi," the young woman, Honey, replied as she entered a sequence of keystrokes into the display screen on her bag. A moment later, a port at one of the bag opened and deposited two bubblegum pink spheres into Honey's waiting hand.

 _I can move mountains_

Suddenly, the fleeing car came screaming around the corner before it began barreling towards the pair.

"Aw shit!" the driver shouted, "It's two of those heroes!"

"Run them down!" one of the other thugs ordered, promoting the driver to slam on the accelerator.

 _I can work a miracle, work a miracle, uh oh_

"Okay, Honey," the young man, Wasabi, said with a steady, focused tone, "Just like we practiced."

Honey answered with a simple nod of her head, her green eyes focused on the oncoming vehicle.

 _I'll keep you like an oath_

The moment before the car struck either of them, both of the costumed heroes spun to the side, dodging the car like a matador avoiding a charging bull. As he spun, Wasabi also dropped to one knee and stuck both arms out to one side. As he finished his spin, Wasabi's plasma blades dug into the the side of the car, ripping through the tires and the undercarriage of the vehicle like a hot knife through butter. The sudden, catastrophic damage that Wasabi's blades inflicted on the car caused it to swerve violently to one side before flipping into the air.

" _May nothing but death do us part..._ "

By this time, Honey had finished her spin and her gaze focused on the flipping car. Spinning her arm around in an identical motion to that of a softball pitcher, Honey flung the two spheres at the car. As they impacted with the car's metal frame, the sphere burst, causing a pink goo to cover the vehicle while tendrils of it shot out in every direction. A split second later, the tendrils had latched onto the surrounding buildings, creating a web of pink goo. As the occupants of the car screamed in panic, the vehicle stopped just before it hit the ground, anchored by the tendrils of goo. After the car's momentum was halted, it was yanked back into the air, eventually settling as it and its occupants were held suspended above the ground.

Flicking his plasma blades off as he walked up next to Honey, Wasabi bumped fists with the young woman, the two smiling as they marveled at their handiwork.

 _You'll find your way_

A short distance away, the fleeing van tore through down the street, having manage to elude its police pursuit.

"I think we lost them!" the driver declared happily.

"Not yet!" the man sitting next to him shouted before pointing forward, "Look!"

 _And may death find you alive_

Directly in the center of the road was a ten foot tall white mass made up of hundreds of miniature robots, each cylindrical in shape with ball joints at their centers. Standing at the top of the mass was a girl of Caucasian descent with a slim build and dirty blonde hair that she had pulled back in a short ponytail. She wore a black bodysuit that extend up to fingerless gloves over her hands. Over this, she wore a white breastplate, along with a pair of black boots. Her face was obscured by a white mask in the shape of a fox, with red lines on the cheeks and black tips on its ears.

 _Take me down the line_

As the criminals watched, the girl spread her arms out, causing the mass of robots beneath her shift. A second later, the robots had formed a staircase which the girl walked down until she had reached the street.

 _In Gem City we turned the tide_

Once she reached the street, the girl waved her hands about her head in graceful, fluid motions. As she did, the mass of miniature robots reformed, taking on the appearance of nine tail-like strands that extends from the girl's lower back. Once they had finished forming, the girl slid into a defensive stance, her palms open and facing the oncoming van.

"This is Riley," the girl said into her communicator, "I've got the van."

 _You'll find your way_

"I think we're in trouble, guys," the driver muttered, his eyes going wide with fear.

"I don't care what she can do," the other criminal said, "She's just a little girl! We're going to go through her!"

At that, the driver floored the accelerator, sending the van rocketing towards Riley, who remained impassive in the face of the danger.

 _And may death find you alive_

Leaning out of the passenger window, one of the criminals leveled an assault rifle at Riley and opened fire. Reacting quickly, Riley swept one arm in front of her, causing one of her tails to sweep around her and form a barrier between the girl and criminals, absorbing the gunfire. After a few moments, the criminal had exhausted his ammo and pulled himself back into the van as it continued speeding towards Riley.

 _Take me down the line_

Lowering her shield, Riley focused on the oncoming van. As the van drew closer, she began swirling her arms in front of her, causing the miniature robots to form a pool in front of Riley. Then, right before the van struck her, Riley pointed one arm at the pool of robots before gesturing behind her and into the air with the other. The moment she did, the miniature robots sprang up, forming a ramp that arced up and over Riley.

 _In Gem City we turned the tide_

The criminals screamed in shock as their van suddenly rode up the ramp into the air. As they drove, Riley spun one arm around in a corkscrew motion, causing the ramp of miniature robots to form a horizontal loop that caused the van to flip upside down and crash back to the ground on its roof. The van's remaining momentum caused it to skid along the street for a few yards, trailing a shower of sparks, before grinding to a halt, the men inside held upside down by their seatbelts and groaning in pain.

Chuckling to herself, Riley turned her attention skyward, where she spotted the flying van passing overhead. Gathering the robots around her, Riley gestured towards the van with one hand, causing a tendril of robots to shoot out and wrap around the van. With the rest of the robots condensing around her, Riley was pulled up into the air as van passed by, disappearing into the night as the wail of police sirens approached the area.

 _She wants to dance like Uma Thurman!_

This is Car Six One Six!" a police officer yelled as he came screeching around a corner, the lights on his cruiser pulsing brilliantly, "I've got one of the suspect cars in my sight! I'm cutting them off at Third and Maple!"

 _Bury me 'til I confess_

Sure enough, racing towards the police cruiser was the other car the criminals had been using. Seeing the police car approaching them, one of the car's four occupants leaned out of the window and opened fire with his assault rifle. Swearing, the officer ducked down and slammed on his breaks, causing his cruiser to swerve to a stop in the middle of the road as it was riddled with bullets. As the gunfire stopped, the man raised his head, only to see that the suspect vehicle was about to slam into him.

 _She wants to dance like Uma Thurman_

A split second before the criminals slammed into his car, a large figure dropped between them. The driver of the car's eyes widened in surprise as the figure suddenly reached down and slammed its hands against the hood of the vehicle, crushing its engine and stopping it cold.

 _And I can't get you out of my head_

Blinking in surprise, the police officer looked up at his savior. The person was a towering figure with a bulky build. They were dressed head to toe in red armor with black lining and blue highlights. The head was relatively small compared to the rest of the body, and the face was completely obscured by a black, glass faceplate while a pair of large wings were attached to its upper back.

 _I can move mountains_

As the officer looked up at the large figure, he saw a smaller one slide off the first's back. This figure seemed to be the inverse of the first, standing as short as a child and dressed in blue armor with red highlights. The most noticeable differences in the armor was that the gauntlets were disproportionately large and that it ended near his knees, showing the smaller figure was wearing black sneakers.

 _I can work a miracle, work a miracle, uh oh_

"Are you alright, officer?" the smaller figure asked, his voice sounding distorted and his face obscured by his helmet's visor.

"Uh….yeah, I think so," the officer replied as he moved to get out of his car.

 _I'll keep you like an oath_

"Please remain where you are, officer," the larger figure said as he turned around and held out a hand to stop to the cop, his voice also oddly low and distorted, "You may have suffered injuries you are not currently aware of. Please await the arrival of incoming paramedics."

 _"May nothing but death do us part..."_

"O-Okay, I'll stay-" the police officer began to say before he looked past the large figure and his eyes went wide, "Shit, look out!"

 _I can move mountains_

Looking over his shoulder, the large figure saw two of the criminals pulling themselves out of the wreckage of their car. Stumbling a few steps, one criminal caught himself and pointed his assault rifle at the large figure.

"Hey, freak!" the criminal called with a savage grin as he pulled the trigger.

 _I can work a miracle, work a miracle, uh oh_

Before the bullets could leave the gun, the large figure raised his arm in front of him as a panel on his forearm opened up. A split second later, a humming noise came from the large figure's arm before a translucent, blue field of energy extend from the figure's arm, rapidly expanding to a dozen feet across. As the bullets rocketed towards the large figure, they impacted the energy field before bouncing off harmlessly.

As the gunman stopped firing, both he and the large figure looked down at the crumpled bullets, a look of shock on the criminal's face. Slowly, the criminal raised his head to look at the large figure, only to find he was now pointing pointing the clenched fist of his other hand at the gunman.

"Hello," the large figure greeted as four engine ports opened up on the gauntlet, glowing blue as they powered up. A moment later, the gauntlet, still clenched into a fist, shot off the large figure's hand and rocketed through the air towards the gunman. The criminal only had time to let out a squeak of fear before the flying fist hit him dead center in the chest, the projectile lifting him off his feet and carrying him through the air before slamming him against a nearby lamppost, the force bending the metal post slightly.

 _I'll keep you like an oath_

Seeing this, the other criminal quickly reached to his belt and drew a pistol before pointing it at the large figure. Seeing this, the smaller figure held one arm out towards the criminal, the fingers of his hand splayed wide. A low hum came from the gauntlet a moment before the pistol was suddenly yanked out of the criminals hand.

"I'll take that," the smaller figure taunted as he caught the gun out of the air before raising his other fist and pointing it at the criminal, "And you can have this."

As the smaller figure finished speaking, a small panel opened up on the back of the raised gauntlet. A moment later, something small was shot out of the panel with a hiss and struck the criminal in the chest. Looking down, the criminal saw that a small, black disk had attached itself to the front of his shirt. Before he could investigate the disk further, a jolt of electricity suddenly surged out of the device, causing the man to convulse for a moment before falling over unconscious.

 _"May nothing but death do us part..."_

Holding out his hand, the large figure allowed his gauntlet to reconnect to the rest of his armor before he gave the smaller figure a thumbs up.

"Nice job, Big Guy," the smaller figure said with a nod before he turned his attention back to the officer and handed him the criminal's gun, "Uh, here you go, officer. You should probably hold on to this."

"Uh, sure," the officer replied as he took the gun and put it to the side, "Thanks for your help."

"All in day's work," the smaller figure replied with a shrug before climbing up onto the larger figure's back.

"Hiro," Tip said from over their communicators, "All the bad guys have been taken down."

"Nice work, everyone," Hiro congratulated, "Let's all meet up back at home base."

"Sounds good," Tip agreed.

"Alright, Baymax," Hiro said as he settled onto the larger figure's back, "Let's fly."

In response, Baymax's wings snapped open before engines built into the soles of his feet sprung to life. A moment later, Baymax rocketed into the sky, carrying Hiro up into the air before they shot over the rooftops, quickly joined by the flying van as they made their way together across the city.

Unbeknownst to any of them, a figure standing on a nearby rooftop had witness most of the night's proceedings. The figure was a woman with long, jet black hair, vibrant green eyes and a pale complexion. She wore a black bodysuit over her slim physique, along with black boots and a black trenchcoat. As she watched the team disappear into the city, she reached into the pocket of her coat and retrieved a cellphone before placing it to her ear.

"Good evening, sir," she said without tone or inflection of any kind, "I have completed my observation."

"Well done, Phantasma," a voice sounding like the unholy offspring of a text-to-speech program and an electric larynx replied, "Report back to base. I believe it is time for us to begin Phase Two."

A/N: And here we go again. Thank you all again for your feedback from the end of the last story. Made me very excited to begin this one. Hope you all enjoyed it as well! In case anyone was wondering, the son in this chapter is Uma Thurman by Fall Out Boy. As always, reviews and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	2. Home Base

**Chapter 2: Home Base**

Flying across the cityscape, Baymax and the van began drawing closer to a more affluent area, where apartment buildings and storefronts gave way to large homes. Tucked away in one corner of the city along the coast was a sprawling mansion surrounded by a perfectly manicured lawn. Passing over the high walls that surrounded the property, the group flew around to the back, where a helipad had been set into the lawn. As the group stopped to hover over the helipad, it began to open, revealing a large shaft hidden underneath. Once the door had finished opening, the group lowered themselves into the shaft, the door closing behind them as they descended.

The shaft was illuminated by flood lights placed along the walls at regular intervals, allowing the group to see where they were going as they descended beneath the manor. Coming to the bottom of the shaft, which had been set up like a miniature hangar, the van settled onto the ground, it's thrusters sliding back into the vehicle as its tires shifted back into place, taking on the appearance of a normal van as Baymax landed next to it.

As the van settled to the ground, Riley, who had been clinging to the top of the van with the aid of her robots, relaxed her grip before sliding off the vehicle's roof.

" _Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think that went well_ ," a chipper female voice said in Riley's head.

" _I'm just happy we got there soon enough, Joy_ ," a morose female voice answered, " _Our friends could have been hurt without us_."

" _What about us, Sadness!?_ " a panicky male voice questioned, " _That van almost ran us down! I don't think we should have tried that move_."

" _And what should we have done instead, Fear?_ " a snooty female voice asked acidically, " _Just let those creeps get away_?"

" _Disgust is right,_ " a gruff, male voice added, " _We did the right thing taking those punks down. Though, if you ask me, I don't think we put enough hurt on them. If I was in charge-_ "

Sighing as she closed her eyes and shook her head, Riley did her best to tune out the voices in her head as she took off her mask, revealing the metallic headband she had on underneath.

"Voices in your head acting up again?" Hiro questioned as he walked over to Riley, removing his helmet as he walked over to her.

"Just Anger being his normal, violent self," Riley admitted with a shrug.

" _I heard that_ ," the gruff voice grumbled.

"Well, thanks for helping out back there," Hiro said with a smile, "I know you guys still have homework and stuff to do. Do you need me to come over and-"

"I know I'm not a super genius in college like you, but I can still handle my math homework by myself, thank you very much," Riley interupted, giving Hiro a sly smile as she spoke, "I think you can come up with a better excuse than that in order to spend time with me."

"W-What?" Hiro asked with a nervous laugh, his face turning red as he spoke, "I'm not making-"

Hiro was interrupted again as Riley reached out and put a finger to the boy's lips.

"Hiro, what have I told you about lying to me?" Riley questioned gently as she pulled her hand back.

"That it's impossible because you can read my emotions?" Hiro guessed with an embarrassed smile.

"Exactly," Riley confirmed before leaning in and kissing Hiro on the cheek.

"Ugh, you know it be great if you two could go five minutes without being all mushy towards each other," Tip said as she she walked over to them, both blushing as they pulled apart while Riley tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Sorry, Tip," Riley apologized as she gave her friend a smile.

"Yeah, whatever, you friggin' love bird," Tip said as she looped her arm around Riley's shoulders and began leading her towards a large door that led out of the hanger, "Come on, I'm sure Stan is going to want to talk to us."

Together the group made their way over to the door. As they went, Go Go rolled up behind Wasabi before hopping onto his back, knocking the young man off balance for a moment as she wrapped her legs around his stomach and looped her arms around his neck. Regaining his balance, Wasabi chuckled and grabbed hold of Go Go's legs before he continued on towards the door.

"So," Go Go said conversationally, pausing to blow a bubble with the gum she was chewing before pulling it back into her mouth, "What's for dinner tonight?"

"Well, I was thinking of making some teriyaki chicken," Wasabi answered as he grinned at Go Go.

"Yes," Go Go hissed with excitement as she hugged Wasabi from behind, "Man, if I had known the benefits of dating a cook, I would have asked you out years ago."

"Wow, so you only want me for my cooking skills, huh?" Wasabi teased.

"Among other things," Go Go purred in Wasabi's ear, causing the young man to blush.

As this went on, Honey, who had been walking next to Wasabi, smiled wanly at the pair, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Go Go.

"Honey, why don't you join us?" Go Go suggested as she looked over at the young woman, prompting Wasabi to look as well.

"Oh, no thank you," Honey quickly answered with a shake of her head as she took off her helmet and placed a pair of glasses with magenta rims over her eyes, "I was going to head back to campus and work on a few things at the lab."

Go Go and Wasabi shared a look before turning their attention back to Honey.

"Pamela, you've been spending a lot of time in the lab recently," Wasabi observed.

"When you're not helping Cass out at the Lucky Cat or fighting crime with us," Go Go added.

"I just like to stay busy," Honey argued, "The new semester is starting up soon, and I wanted to use the lab while it was still relatively empty."

"Honey," Go Go said, a concerned look on her face, "Are you sleeping?"

Honey stopped walking and looked at Go Go and Wasabi with a friendly but serious expression, prompting Wasabi to pause as well.

"Guys, I haven't had nightmares about….about Tadashi's death for awhile now," Honey stated evenly, "I promise you, I'm fine."

"Alright," Go Go relented as they began walking again, "But still, all work and no play makes Jill a dull girl."

"We'll hang out again soon," Honey insisted with a warm smile, "I promise."

By that time, the group had reached the large hangar door, which had begun to slide open as they neared it. As the door slid open, they revealed a man standing patiently behind it. He was a tall, middle aged man with a small mustache and bald head except for the black hair at his temples. He was dressed in a traditional butler's uniform and watched the group approach with impassive brown eyes. He held a silver tray in one hand, on which was balanced a number of water bottles. In the other, he clutched a grey backpack.

"Heathcliff!" Fred greeted cheerfully as he pulled the head of his suit off, "What's up, my man!"

"Good evening, Master Frederick," the man, Heathcliff, replied with a nod of his head before holding the tray out to Fred, "Would you care for a vitamin water?"

"Oh, you know it!" Fred exclaimed as he snatched one of the waters off the tray, "Crime fighting always leaves me parched! Thanks dude!"

With that, Fred opened the bottle and began pouring its contents into his open mouth as he walked past Heathcliff. The others followed suit, politely thanking Heathcliff as they took the offered refreshment and made their way through the door.

"Miss Andersen," Heathcliff said as Riley, Tip and Hiro reached him and held the backpack out to her, "I took the liberty of bringing one of Master Stanley's custom made backpacks for you to store your microbots in."

"Thanks, Heathcliff," Riley replied with a smile as she took the backpack. Placing it on the floor, Riley opened the backpack before making a lifting motion with her hand, causing the swarm of microbots that had been trailing behind her to gather and rise into the air like a surging wave. Then, with a downward motion of her hand, Riley compelled the microbots to flow into the backpack, stacking themselves as densely and efficiently as possible in the process. After a few seconds, the microbots were all contained in the backpack, the grey material bulging noticeably but retaining its overall shape. Walking over, Riley took off her metal headband before tossing it and her mask into the backpack as well. Then, flipping it closed, Riley grabbed the backpack's straps and slung it over her shoulder, the servos hidden inside the straps whirring quietly as they helped her support the weight of the bag's contents.

"Does that thing actually work?" Tip questioned in surprise.

"It feels about as heavy as if I stuffed it with textbooks," Riley answered as she settled the backpack onto her shoulders, "So, way lighter than it should be."

"Stan's apparently a wiz with this sort of stuff," Hiro explained as the trio made their way through the hangar door, "He used to have a briefcase that he carried around all his Excelsior equipment in that worked on similar principals, back in the day."

Beyond the hangar was a short set of stairs that led up to what looked like the control room for a top secret government agency. The walls, ceiling and floor were all made from reinforced steel, which looked dark blue in the dim lighting. One wall was dominated by a large computer console with multiple screens, many of which were displaying news feed covering the team's capture of the bank robbers. At the center of the room sat a large table while the wall directly across from the hangar door was occupied by a workbench strewn with tools and half finished pieces of equipment. Directly across from the computer was a heavy metal door set into the wall, which was flanked by cases displaying eight mannequins, four on each side.

Each of the mannequins was naked except one which wore a red and blue colored costume with yellow highlights. The costume had a heavily armored blue chestplate along with red boots and gauntlets. A yellow utility belt was wrapped around the waist and the face was covered with an armored blue cowl with red lenses set in the eyes.

As the group entered the room, the man who had been sitting in front of the computer console stood up. He was a late middle aged man with a slim build and dark brown hair that had gone white at the temples and a white mustache. He wore a navy blue sports jacket over a salmon-colored button-up shirt and khaki pants. Brown loafers covered his feet and a pair of yellow-tinted aviator shades obscured his squinted gaze.

"Now that was crime fighting," the man said as he clapped while approaching the team, "Nice work out there gang."

"Thanks, Dad," Fred replied as he placed the head of his suit on the table before plopping himself in one of the chairs surrounding it.

"How'd my old taser darts work, Hiro?" Fred's father questioned.

"Like a charm, Stan," Hiro replied with a chuckle as he set his helmet on the table as well, "I can see why you liked them so much."

"Tech's always getting better but some things you just can't approve on," Stan stated with a nod, "Besides, I figure if you're going to be using my old name, you might as well use my old equipment."

"The Excelsior name wasn't my idea, Stan," Hiro said apologetically, looking away and scratching the back of his head.

"You misunderstand me, Hiro," Stan stated, "I'm happy that people are calling you that."

"You are?" Hiro questioned in surprise.

"Of course," Stan replied with a chuckle, "I know some of the heroes from my time are chomping at the bit to get back in the action. But me? I'm too old for this gig. But there are people in this city who remember what I did, and I'm sure they take comfort that there's an Excelsior still protecting San Fransokyo."

Hiro could only smile in response to the statement.

As the others talked, Baymax wandered over to one of the mannequins. Stopping in front of it, Baymax reached out and pushed a button on a panel next to the mannequin. A moment later, a panel above the mannequin opened up, revealing a camera that whirred to life.

"Scanning now," an electronic voice announced, followed by another whirring noise, "Subject identified. Subject: Baymax, Codename: Big Guy. How may this unit assist you?"

"Please engage in disarmament procedures," Baymax requested, his voice now sounding lighter.

"Acknowledged," the electronic voice answered, "Disarmament procedures commencing."

A moment later, a half dozen panels opened up around the mannequin before six slender, robotic arms emerged. Working in tandem, the arms quickly began to remove the armor from Baymax. In less than a minute, the armor had been completely removed from Baymax and transferred it to the mannequin.

With the armor completely removed, Baymax now stood before the mannequin in his natural state. He stood roughly seven feet tall with a, pot-bellied, balloon-like appearance. His skin was white and rubbery and a low hum came from the inner machinery that was keeping him inflated. He had relatively long arms that ended in four-fingered hands and short legs ending in nubs instead of feet. His head was tiny relative to the rest of his body and his facial features consisted of two black eyes with a minalimst mouth connecting them. A small panel was inset into his chest approximately where a human's heart would be.

"Thank you for your assistance," Baymax said as he turned from the mannequin and made his way over to the table where all the others had sat.

"Well, that was being quite excitings," the alien creature stated as he pulled himself into one of the chairs and grinned at the others, "I am believings we have performed a tasks possessings the qualities of good."

"Who's this 'we', Oh?" Tip questioned as she quirked an eyebrow at the alien, "I don't remember you doing much other than sitting there."

"I was offering the supports of both the technical and moral kind," Oh argued. Tip rolled her eyes at the comment but also smiled and offered no argument.

"I was feeling the love, little buddy," Fred spoke up, "We still on for our game tonight?"

"Oh yes, I would very much be likings to be participatings in the games of video," Oh agreed with a broad grin.

"Thanks again for looking out for Oh, Fred," Wasabi stated.

"Don't sweat it, Wasabi," Fred said with a dismissive wave, "Having an alien roommate was one of like my top five wishes, so it's pretty awesome to check that one off the list. Besides, I know you and Go Go like to use your apartment for 'alone time' and I figured having Oh puttering about was cramping your style."

Wasabi blushed and looked away as Fred gave him a knowing look, prompting Go Go to roll her eyes and sigh in exasperation.

"Speaking of Oh, did we ever figure out what happened to all the other Boov?" Go Go questioned, clearly looking to change the subject.

"No idea," Hiro admitted with a shrug, "My best guess is they got taken to wherever the Gorg and its egg was."

"So, like Area 51 or something?" Riley suggested.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Hiro replied.

"Well, in other news, it would appear that all your hard work over the last few months is paying off," Stan spoke up, "Crime statistics are down across the city and I'm sure those numbers are only going to drop further after you showed the criminal underworld what you can do even if they come out in force. I do have a concern though."

"What's that?" Honey questioned.

"If you're battle with the Gorg didn't catch people's attention, your crime fighting certainly has," Stan explained, "And I'm not just talking about the media."

"What are you talking about then?" Tip inquired.

"The AVL," Stan answered simply.

"Who's that?" Riley questioned with a furrowed brow.

"The Anti-Villain League," Fred answered, "They're like a combination spy and peacekeeping organization. After the Supers Ban, they took over fighting supervillains."

"So, do you think they're going to come after us for operating as superheroes?" Wasabi questioned.

"It's hard to tell," Stan admitted with a shrug, "A number of things have happened in recent years that have led me to believe that the AVL are easing up on their restrictions, if no outright looking to do away with the Supers Ban altogether. But that fact of the matter is that the Ban is still law, and I believe that means your going to have a run in with AVL agents at one point or another."

"Wait," Hiro spoke up as a thought occurred to him, "Do you think they could know our identities?"

A hush fell over the room as the group considered what Hiro had asked.

"It's entirely possible," Stan admitted after a moment, "You have to understand, the AVL was formed from government organizations that existed back in my heroing days. These organizations were in charge with dealing with superheroes in an official capacity and they managed to become privy to the identities of all superheroes. Now that they've all been combined into a single body, I can't even imagine the information and resources at the League's disposal."

 _Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location_

A middle aged man with long, dour features sat alone at a metal desk in a cramped, windowless office illuminated by a fluorescent light set into the ceiling. The walls were off white in color and were bare except for a few hanging frames holding diplomas and accommodation awards. The man had short, greying brown hair, dull brown eyes and wore a dark grey suit. His gaze was focused on the monitor for the out of date computer he using, the rest of the desk occupied by a small, framed photograph and a name plate that read "Special Agent Richard Dicker."

Growling in frustration, the man, Dicker, smacked the side of the boxy monitor.

"Damn lowest bidder piece of crap," Dicker mumbled to himself before a knock came from the office's one door, "Enter."

A moment later, the door swung open and two women entered. The first, the taller of the two, had fiery red hair with bangs that she wore pulled back in a bun, bright blue eyes, and a prominent nose. The second had long, platinum blonde hair that fell to one side of her face, green eyes and a seemingly permanent knowing smirk. Both were slim of build and dressed in matching suits similar to Dicker's own.

"Agent Wilde," Dicker greeted as he looked at the redhead before turning his gaze towards the blonde, "Agent Mirage."

"You wanted to see us, boss?" Wilde questioned, her voice high and peppy.

"Is this about your Initiative?" Mirage added, her voice low and smooth.

"It is," Dicker confirmed with a nod, "Close the door."

Closing the door behind them, Wilde and Mirage stood side by side in front of Dicker's desk.

"So, the paperwork for the Initiative has finally gone through," Dicker stated.

"It's about time," Wilde commented with an annoyed huff as she crossed her arms, "You got the green light from the Director for it months ago."

"That's government work for you," Dicker replied sardonically, "I think the recent uptick in villain activity has helped."

"Uptick?" Mirage questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

"We've had villains that had gone dark years ago like El Macho and Bomb Voyage who are suddenly on the move again," Dicker explained, "But the big thing was this."

As Dicker spoke, he turned the monitor around for the women to see. It displayed was appeared to be a devastated military base somewhere in an arctic climate. Numerous buildings now lay in ruins, and a few gaping holes had been left in the ground.

"What are we looking at?" Mirage questioned.

"You're looking at what's left of a top secret Russian military base," Dicker explained, "They were attacked last night by an unknown force."

"Why were they attacked?" Wilde asked.

"Our intel tells us that the Russians were working on some kind of biological enhancement for their soldiers," Dicker elaborated, "Specifically, a mutagen called PX-41."

"What does it do?" Wilde inquired.

"We're not sure," Dicker answered with a shrug, "All we know is that it's bad news."

"And let me guess," Mirage said with a sigh, "Whoever attacked the base stole all of it."

"Got it in one," Dicker replied with a smirk.

"Do we have any idea who's responsible?" Wilde asked.

"Nothing solid yet, but we have been hearing chatter about something or someone called Enigma," Dicker explained.

"Catchy," Mirage commented dryly.

"These things have got the bigwigs upstairs worried," Dicker continued, "Which means that now they want the Initiative started yesterday."

"So, we're going on a recruiting run," Wilde surmised with a grin.

"Exactly," Dicker confirmed with a nod, before he opened a drawer on his desk, "I'll be handling the Parrs. I've already got an in with them, and through them it should be pretty easy to pull in Frozone as well."

Pulling out two files, Dicker handed one to each of the women.

"Wilde, you're headed to Metro City," Dicker stated as she opened the file.

"Megamind, huh?" Wilde questioned as she looked at the contents of the file before quirking an eyebrow at Dicker, "We sure we want to bring a former villain in on this operation, boss?"

"Ever since the Titan incident, Megamind has been doing good work in Metro City," Dicker explained.

"Megamind was never much of an overall threat to begin with," Mirage added, "I mean all of his crimes consisted of property damage and robbery. He never even killed anyone."

"Except for Metro Man," Wilde argued.

In response, Mirage raised a questioning eyebrow at the other woman as Dicker stared blankly at Wilde.

"What?" Wilde asked in confusion.

"Didn't you read the memo?" Mirage questioned.

"What memo?" Wilde replied even more confused than before.

Another quiet moment followed as Wilde looked back and forth between the two before Dicker sighed and turned his attention towards Mirage.

"You're heading to Area 51," Dicker stated as Mirage opened the file, a slightly troubled look falling over her features, "You're to rendezvous with General Monger and pick up his band of monsters."

"Wait, you're just sending her on a glorified errand?" Wilde asked, her previous confusion forgotten, "An intern could do that!"

"It's out of my hands, Wilde," Dicker explained calmly.

"I knew it!" Wilde hissed angrily, "This is because she used to work for that Syndrome guy! Ramsbottom still hasn't gotten over that!"

"Weren't you the one just suggesting we shouldn't bring in Megamind for being a former villain?" Dicker questioned skeptically.

"That's different," Wilde argued as she angrily crossed her arms, "Megamind isn't my best friend."

"Lucy," Mirage spoke up as she reached out and placed her hand on Wilde's shoulder, "It's alright."

Wilde looked at Mirage for a few moments, taking in the woman's warm smile before sighing sadly.

"Fine," Wilde relented, "I'm not happy about it though."

"I'll note that in the file," Dicker replied, "Any other questions?"

"Wait, aren't we forgetting some people?" Wilde asked, "That new superteam out in San Fran. The uh, what was it? Big Hero Six?"

"Nine," Mirage corrected.

"Whatever," Wilde replied with a wave of her hand, "What about them?"

"Well, unfortunately, we don't have any solid intel on them yet," Dicker explained before sighing, "Our information gathering just isn't what it used to be, it seems."

"So we don't know anything about them?" Mirage inquired.

"Well, we know they're based somewhere in the city and are relatively young," Dicker explained as he typed a few commands into his computer, causing a few blurry images of the Big Hero Nine to appear on screen, "The oldest of them can't be more than their early twenties."

"What about the old San Fransokyo hero, Excelsior?" Mirage questioned, "They must have a connection to him."

"We certainly suspect that the group has some connection to Stanley Lieber," Dicker concurred, "But nothing solid yet. At least, not as solid as our main point of interest."

"What's that?" Wilde inquired.

With a few more keystrokes, Dicker pulled up the logo for the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.

"SFIT?" Mirage questioned, "What's the connection?"

"All the members of the team are equipped with state of the art technology," Dicker explained, "Given their age, we suspect at least some of them are students at the college."

"So, you're saying we're dealing with a bunch of science nerds?" Wilde asked with a chuckle.

"Something like that," Dicker confirmed with a nod, "This is strengthened by one of the team members using what appears to be microbot technology, which was shown at last years SFIT Expo. The same tech was used by Robert Callaghan, a.k.a. Yokai, who was formerly a professor at the school."

"Alright, so why don't we have someone go and look into it?" Wilde questioned.

"We're stretched thin as is," Dicker answered, "We don't have the resources to go sniffing around SFIT. Not while we're also setting this operation up."

"So what do we do?" Mirage inquired.

"Well, as I mentioned before, I have an in with the Parr family," Dicker explained, "And it just so happens that I know someone who can serve as our eyes and ears for us."

As he spoke, Dicker input a few more keystrokes, causing the picture of a young woman with long black hair and dark blue eyes to appear on the screen.

"Off to college?" Mirage inquired with a knowing smile.

"Her parents are very proud," Dicker replied with a smirk of his own.

A/N: After an action filled chapter last time, let's have a little exposition, shall we? I had fun with this one and decided to get it out quick after all the feedback I got last time. As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	3. House Call

**Chapter 3: House Call**

The sun shone brightly in the sky as a nondescript black sedan pulled to a stop in front of a simple, two story house in the suburbs of Metroville. Stepping out of the car, Agent Rick Dicker walked around it before pushing his way through the gate in the white-picket fence that surrounded the well kept lawn outside of the yellow house, a plain brown briefcase in his hand. Walking up to the red front door, Dicker pushed the glowing button to the left of it, causing a doorbell to sound within the house.

"I'll get it!" a young voice called before Dicker heard the sound of rapid footbeats approaching the other side of the door.

A moment later, the door swung open, revealing a young boy standing on the other side. He appeared to be roughly five years old, and stood about three feet tall. He had a mop of auburn hair and bright blue eyes that looked up at Dicker. He was currently dressed in a red, Mickey Mouse t-shirt and brown cargo shorts with only white socks on his feet. As he looked up at Dicker, the boy's expression turned from one of curiosity to delight.

"Mister Ricker Dicker!" the boy exclaimed before running forward and hugging Dicker around his legs, the force of the boy slamming into him almost tripping the agent.

"Hey, there, Jack Jack," Dicker greeted with a bemused smile as he tousled the boy's hair affectionately, "Man, you've gotten big since the last time I saw you."

"Jack Jack? Honey?" a female voice called from within the house, "Who's at the door?"

A moment later, a middle aged woman came into view. She was of average height, with a curvy figure and auburn hair that hung down to the base of her skull. She was dressed in a grey, short sleeved, button-up shirt and a pair of blue jeans. As she looked at Dicker, her brown eyes lit up with recognition.

"Rick!" the woman greeted with a raspy voice as she quickly stepped forward and pulled Dicker into a hug, "What a surprise! Bob didn't tell me you were coming over!"

"Well, that's because he doesn't know, Helen," Dicker replied as he returned the hug with his free arm.

"Is everything okay?" the woman, Helen, questioned as she pulled back and looked at Dicker with concern.

"Everything's fine," Dicker answered, "I've got some serious news but it's not an emergency."

"Well, I suppose you should come in then," Helen replied as she stepped to the side and allowed Dicker to enter the house.

"Bob's in the den," Helen explained as she took Jack Jack's hand and began walking deeper into the house, "I'll gather everyone and we can talk in the kitchen."

Dicker followed Helen into a simple kitchen, at the center of which sat a wooden table.

"Bob!" Helen called as she stepped up to one of the doorways leading out of the room, "Bob, Rick is here!"

"Rick?" a deep male voice questioned from the other room, "What's Rick doing here?"

A moment later, a massive man stepped into the room. He stood at least a head taller than Rick and had broad shoulders that also made him twice as wide. He had short, wavy blonde hair and blue eyes set into a face with a lantern jaw. He wore a white, button up shirt and brown slacks held up by a brown leather belt.

"Rick!" the man smiled as he spotted the agent, offering a large hand to him as he approached, "What brings you here?"

"Hey, Bob," Dicker greeted as he shook the man's hand, "There's something I needed to talk to your family about. Is Dash around?"

As he spoke, there was a rush of air and a blur of motion before a young man suddenly appeared in the room. He appeared to be roughly fifteen years old and was tall and lanky, with blue eyes and windswept blond hair. He was dressed in a yellow t-shirt and a pair of red and black gym shorts.

"Hey, Mom, have you seen my sneakers?" the young man questioned, "I was hoping to go for a run before…."

The young man trailed off as he noticed Dicker standing behind his mother.

"Oh, hey Rick," the young man greeted, "I didn't know you were coming over today."

"Dash, why don't you sit down with us," Helen told the young man as she sat down in one of the chairs that surrounded the kitchen table, pulling Jack Jack into her lap as she did, "Rick wanted to talk to us about something."

"Okay," Dash agreed and took a seat in one of the chairs, looking around at everyone hesitantly.

"If you wanted to talk to all of us, Rick, I have to say, you have pretty bad timing," Bob commented as he took a seat as well, "We just got back yesterday from dropping Violet off at college in San Fransokyo."

"Couldn't be helped," Dicker stated with a shrug as he sat down, "She'll get the info one way or the other. The most important thing is that I talk to all of you."

"You're making me worried, Rick," Helen commented, "I know you said this wasn't an emergency, but you still seem rather grave."

"It's a serious issue," Dicker confirmed with a nod as he lay his briefcase on the table, "But, I believe it is overall good news."

"Well, lay it on us then," Bob urged.

"So, I'm sure you are all aware of the increasing number of incidence since you all fought Syndrome five years ago," Dicker explained, "The Titan incident, the Battle in the Bay, and I'm sure you're aware of what happened in San Fransokyo a few months ago."

"Yeah, where the Big Hero 9 fought those aliens?" Dash questioned, "Dad was hoping to run into them while we were there but it didn't end up happening."

"Figures that they break up a bank robbery the day after we left," Bob grumbled.

"Well, as you may have noticed, despite the Supers Act still being in effect, not many people are enforcing it anymore," Dicker stated.

"Oh, I've definitely noticed," Helen commented with an amused chuckle, "My whole family should have been arrested ten times over by now."

"The public's opinions on superheros is changing," Dicker stated, "And my higher ups are noticing."

"What are you getting at Rick?" Bob pressed.

"The AVL wants to put an officially sanctioned superhero team together," Dicker explained as he opened his briefcase, pulled out a file, and laid it on the table, "And I'm in charge of picking who's on the team."

Bob, Helen and Dash looked at Dicker in shock, while Jack Jack pulled the file over to him and opened it to see what was inside.

"Are you serious?" Bob all but whispered, a note of excitement rising in his voice.

"Bob, when am I not serious?" Dicker questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Bob suddenly exclaimed, startling his family as he hopped to his feet, knocking over his chair in the process, "Oh my God, yes!"

Turning towards Helen, Bob grabbed her shoulders and began shaking her with excitement.

"Did you hear that, honey!?" Bob asked excitedly, "We're officially back in the game!"

"I heard him, sweetie," Helen replied with a bemused chuckle, "I was sitting right here, after all."

"So wait, I'm actually going to get to be on a superhero team?" Dash questioned with an excited grin.

"As long as your parents are okay with it," Dicker stated.

"Please, Mom," Dash said as he turned towards Helen as Bob stepped away from her, "Pleasepleaseplease."

"Of course, Dash," Helen replied with a smirk, "I've been letting your run around in costume for the last couple of years. I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I tried to stop you now."

"Yes!" Dash shouted as he punched the air with so much excitement, his fists became a blur of motion.

"Oh, I can't wait to tell Lucius!" Bob said while running a hand through his hair before a thought occurred to him and he turned to look at Dicker, "We're bringing Lucius in on this, right?"

"Of course," Dicker confirmed with a nod, "We're going to need as many veteran superheros as we can get."

"I can see why," Helen replied as she began looking through the file in front of her, "This team is mostly made up of rookies."

As Helen flipped to a new page, she saw something that caused her eyes to go wide in shock and hissed with a sharp intake of breath before she slammed the file shut.

"What was that?" Bob asked in confusion.

"Nothing," Helen quickly answered as she turned to look at Bob, not noticing as Jack Jack slid one of the pages out of the file.

"Mommy?" Jack Jack asked as he held the page up for Helen to see, "Why is this man blue?"

"Blue?" Bob asked as he reached out and took the page from Jack Jack, "Here, let me see that."

The room fell silent as Bob looked at the page, watching as his brows furrowed and his expression darkened.

"Is this a joke?" Bob demanded as he glared at Dicker.

"I don't joke, Bob," Dicker replied with a stony expression.

"Then what the hell is this?" Bob demanded as he turned the page towards Dicker and pointed at the figure depicted on the paper.

"Bob, you've seen the news," Helen said gently, "He's been doing a lot of good lately."

"I don't care what the news says!" Bob snapped as he slapped the page back down on the table, "There's no way I'm working with Megamind!"

 _Meanwhile, in Metro City_

The sun shone brightly down on the bustling metropolis of Metro City. All across the city, people were going about their business in the labyrinth of skyscrapers. Except in one part of the city, where daily life had come to a screeching halt.

On the corner of one of the blocks in Metro City's downtown area, a jewelry store sat. Normally, it's glass display cases showcased numerous pieces of dazzling and elegant jewelry. Now though, those cases were smashed and empty, the alarms attached to them shrieking within the store. At that moment, four armed men, each wearing face concealing masks, were busy smashing in the display cases with the butt of their rifles before quickly grabbing the jewelry within and stuffing it into the duffle bags they wore around their shoulders. As this was happening, patrons and clerks alike lay face down on the floor, cowering and whimpering.

"Come on, come on!" one of the robbers shouted, "Let's move! We got to be out of here before the cops show up, or worse!"

"Or worse?" another one of the criminals asked with contempt, "Don't tell me you're actually scared of that blue freak?"

"He's been busting guys all across the city," the first criminal argued, "If he shows up, we're as good as caught."

"Yeah, whatever man," the second robber snorted, "I hope he shows up. I'd love to put a bullet in that big blue head of his."

As he said this, the criminal turned to head towards the door. However, to his shock, he found a man standing between him and the exit.

The first thing the criminal noticed about the man was that his skin was entirely blue. The second thing was that his bald head had a cranium that was roughly twice the size of a normal person's. The man was dressed in a black spandex bodysuit with splashes of blue, along with a pair of black gloves, black boots and a black utility belt around his waist. He looked at the criminal with bright green eyes and smirked, his mouth tugging on the black soul patch that ran down to his chin. The thing that then caught the criminal's attention was the futuristic-looking handgun the man had leveled at his head.

"Ollo," the man greeted before pulling the trigger, causing a beam of blue light to shoot out from the gun and strike the criminal. In a flash of light, the robber disappeared and was replaced by a tiny cube of matter that hung in the air for half a second before it began to drop to the ground. Before the cube could hit the floor, the man snagged it out of the air and grinned at it before slipping it into a pouch on his belt.

"Fear not, good citizens!" the man declared, causing the three other robbers to turn and face him, "Everything will be fine, now that I am here to save you!"

"Holy crap, it's Megamind!" one of the robbers shouted.

"Waste him!" another ordered as all three leveled their weapons at him.

"Uh oh," Megamind mumbled to himself, his eyes going wide with surprise.

Diving forward a half a second before the robbers could pull the triggers of their weapons, Megamind took cover behind the display case at the center of the room as bullets ripped through the air above him, causing the innocent people in the store to begin screaming. Reaching to his utility belt, Megamind retrieved a small, metal orb and pushed a button on the top before tossing it over the display case. The orb rose into the air before stopping at eye level and hovering. A moment later, the side of the orb facing the robbers began pulsing rapidly with bright light, causing the criminals to let out cries of surprise as they lowered their weapons and tried to cover their dazzled eyes.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Megamind spun the cylinder on his gun before standing up and aiming it at one of the robbers. Pulling the trigger caused a burst of blue energy to erupt from the gun, and strike one of the robbers in the chest. The blast knocked the robber completely off his feet, carrying him over one of the display cases before smashing him into a wall. The force was enough to leave a large dent in the store's drywall, and the criminal groaned in pain as he slumped to the floor.

"Oops," Megamind muttered his eyes wide with surprise as he looked down at his gun before turning the cylinder again, "Wrong setting."

By that time, the orb had stopped flashing its lights and the robbers were starting to recover. Grabbing the orb out of the air with his free hand, Meganmind aimed his gun with the other hand and fired at another of the robbers. This time, the blue shot out of the gun in a short beam and struck the robber. The instant he was hit, the robber seemed to fall unconscious and he collapsed to the ground in a boneless heap.

"That's more like it," Megamind commented with a grin.

As he spoke, the sound of the door opening reached his ears. Spinning around, Megamind saw the remaining robber had managed to stumble past him and was now rushing down the street away from the store.

"Hey, wait!" Megamind called as he raced after the robber, "I need to finish arresting you!"

As he exited the building, Megamind discovered that the robber was already halfway down the block. Seeing this, Megamind's brow furrowed in frustration, but a moment later, an idea came to mind and a smile spread across his features. Bringing his hand up to his mouth and putting two fingers between his lips, Megamind blew a sharp whistle.

A half-second later, three small robotic creatures came flying into view. At a glance, they resembled flying, mechanical jellyfish, possessing ovaloid bodies from which dangled pairs of metallic tendrils that ended in robotic claws. The top half of each of the machines' bodies was made up of glass domes that glowed bright blue, across the middle of which ran a spiked, mohawk-like frill. Each of the robots had a set of jaws that resembled a bear trap and a single, glowing red eye on a stalk. The trio of robots quickly flew to Megamind's side and began to hover in the air around him.

"Brainbots!" Megamind called as he pointed at the fleeing robber, "Fetch!"

At his command, the trio of robots turned their attention towards the robber before they shot after the fleeing criminal. Swiftly flying through the air, the brainbots quickly caught up to the robber. Dipping low, the first brainbot to reach the criminal latched its jaws onto the man's leg, causing him to let out a cry of surprised pain as he tumbled to the ground. As the first brainbot held him, the other two brainbot quickly flew up to the robber and grabbed his arms with their claws. Then, together, the trio of brainbots hoisted the struggling robber into the air and carried him back to Megamind.

"Good boys!" Megamind congratulated the brainbots in a cutesy voice, "Such good boys! Now, drop him."

In response, the brainbots dropped the robber unceremoniously to the ground, the criminal letting out a grunt of pain as his back connected with the sidewalk. As Megamind pat one of the brainbots affectionately on the top of its dome, the sound of approaching police sirens caught his attention.

"It sounds like the police are on their way," Megamind observed as he looked down at the robber, "I think I'll just leave you here for them to find."

Reaching into one of the pouches on his belt, Megamind retrieved the tiny cube he had turned one of the other robbers into before he crouched down and placed it on the criminal's chest.

"Make sure the police put your friend in some water," Megamind explained, "He'll be fine as long as they do that."

With that, Megamind stepped over the criminal and began making his way down the street, his brainbots trailing after him.

"Have fun in prison!" Megamind called back to the criminal with a jovial wave of his hand, "Say hi to the warden for me!"

Chuckling to himself, Megamind turned a corner and continued making his way through downtown Metro City. As he did, a buzzing sound came from his wrist. Pushing the sleeve of his costume up, Megamind revealed a hi-tech watch strapped to his wrist, which was currently buzzing at him. Touching the watch's face with his finger, Megamind held it up to his mouth.

"Ollo," Megamind spoke into the watch.

"Hello, sir," a cheerful voice replied through the watch, "How did the jewelry store robbery go?"

"Excellent, Minion," Megamind replied, "I captured all the criminals this time. I do have to remember not to announce my presence before disabling everyone armed with an automatic weapon though."

"A wise thought, sir," Minion replied before his voice turned nervous, "Uh, sir, the reason I'm calling is because someone is at headquarters to see you."

"Ooo, is it Roxie?" Megamind said excitedly, "We have a date tonight, so I figured she'd-"

"Um, Ms. Ritchie is here, sir, but that's not what I was calling about," Minion interrupted.

"Oh?" Megamind replied in surprised confusion, "Who else is there then?"

"A Ms. Lucy Wilde, sir," Minion answered, "She says she's an agent of the AVL."

"The AVL!?" Megamind whispered fearfully, "They found me!? Okay, Minion, you keep her busy while I go to the secret backup lair and wait for-"

"Sir!" Minion cut in, "Sir, I feel the need to remind you that you're not a supervillain anymore."

"...Oh, right," Megamind replied as realization dawned on him, "I….I guess I'll be there as soon as possible, in that case."

"Excellent, sir," Minion replied, "I'll let Agent Wilde know you're on your way."

With that, the call ended, and Megamind was left with nothing but the foreboding feeling that had settled into the pit of his stomach.

 _Later_ ,

On the outskirts of Metro City, sitting along one of the city's many waterfronts, was what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. The building had a disheveled, unused look, with boarded up windows and graffiti covered walls. A tall, chain link fence topped with barbed wire surrounded the building and it looked like no one had been on the premises for years. Nonetheless, Megamind slipped through a hole in the chainlink fence and made his way towards the warehouse, glancing around to see if anyone was around while his brainbots trailed behind him.

Walking around to the side of the warehouse, Megamind stopped in front of part of the wall that prominently displayed some graffiti that read "Nobody lives here, go away!" Glancing around suspiciously, Megamind opened a hidden panel built into the wall, revealing a keypad inside. Quickly entering a code into the pad, Megamind closed the panel and stepped back as the section of wall slid aside with a mechanical hiss, revealing a corridor sitting behind it. Megamind then quickly stepped inside with his brainbots, prompting the section of wall to close behind him.

Inside, the warehouse appeared to be anything but abandoned. Most of the building's single, large room was dominated by various pieces of advanced machinery, while a web of thick cables crisscrossed across the area to provide power to the equipment and dozens of brainbots zipped about. Near the center of the room was a large work table around which three people had gathered.

The first person was a woman roughly Megamind's own age, with pale skin, a slim physique, and short brown hair. She was dressed in a light blue blouse and tan skirt, and her blue eyed gaze was focused on the redheaded woman standing before her. Next to the brunette, hovering nervously, was a hulking creature that appeared at a glance to be a cybernetic gorilla. Even more unusual was the fact that in place of a head the creature had what appeared to be a dome filled with water. In the dome was a small, fish-like creature that was greyish-green in color and possessed large, intelligent eyes.

"Come on," the brunette prompted, "You have to be able to tell me something."

"I'm sorry, Ms. Ritchie, but my organization doesn't have anything to say to the media at this time," the redhead replied with a helpless shrug.

"I swear, you government types are all the same," the brunette sighed before smiling as she spotted Megamind, "Hey, babe."

"Ollo, Roxie," Megamind replies, smiling as the brunette planted a kiss on his cheek, before he turned his attention towards the redhead, "And ollo to you too, Ms-"

"Agent," the redhead interrupted as she pulled a badge out of her blue coat and flashed it at Megamind, "Agent Lucy Wilde, AVL."

"Of course, Agent, sorry," Megamind replied as he looked at Lucy nervously, "How, exactly, did you get in here?"

"I knocked," Lucy replied blandly as she nodded at the creature, "Your doorman let me in."

At this, Megamind spun around and shot an accusing glare at the creature.

"Minion!?" Megamind hissed.

"I'm sorry, sir," the creature replied, "I thought that, with you being a superhero now, we didn't need to keep the lair a secret anymore."

Sighing in defeat, Megamind turned his attention back to Lucy.

"Am I under arrest?" Megamind questioned.

"Sadly, if you ask me, no, you are not," Lucy answered with a sigh as she put her badge away, "I'm actually here to make you an offer."

"An offer?" Roxie questioned, "What kind of offer?"

"An offer that I will be giving in private," Lucy stated as she gave Roxie a stern look.

"I mean," Megamind began nervously, drawing Lucy's attention back to him, "I'm probably going to end up telling her anyway, so…."

Megamind trailed off as Lucy shot him a withering glare.

"Fine," Lucy spat as she turned her gaze back towards Roxie, "But if a word of this ends up in the papers, I swear to God, I'll-"

"You'll stick me in some deep, dark hole and forget about me," Roxie finished with a roll of her eyes, "You can spare me the big, bad government speech, I've heard it before."

Lucy gave Roxie another glare before she walked over to the work table, where a briefcase sat. Opening the briefcase, Lucy pulled out a file which she then lay on the table. Looking back at Megamind, Lucy beckoned him over.

Walking over, Megamind picked up the file and began flipping through it.

"What is it?" Roxie asked curiously as she walked over.

"It's a dossier about some kind of team," Megamind replied as he furrowed his brow.

"A team?" Minion questioned as he joined everyone, "What kind of team?"

"A superhero team," Lucy explained as she leaned casually against the work table, "The AVL is putting one together, and somehow, you ended up on the shortlist."

"Really!?" Roxie questioned excitedly before looking at Megamind, "Babe, do you know what this means!?"

"Boy, do I!" Megamind replied, equally as excited as he held a page up from the file for Roxie to see, which, among other things, had a picture depicting some kind of half man, half insect creature, "It means I get to work with the Dr. Cockroach!"

 _Meanwhile, in Area 51_ ,

Deep beneath the deserts of Nevada was a rat's nest of tunnels and bunkers that had been constructed in secret by the United States government over decades. Mirage was currently walking down one of these tunnels, her high heeled shoes clicking against the cement floor, a briefcase clutched in one hand.

Next to her walked a man dressed in an United States Army uniform, the insignia upon it marking him as a general. He was relatively short, standing about as tall as Mirage herself, but was broad of shoulder and thickly built. He had grey hair in a crewcut style and hard, green eyes that stared directly ahead.

"Nice base you've got here, General Monger," Mirage commented as they walked.

"I'm not one for small talk, Agent," Monger replied curtly, "You can save that for the team."

As they walked, a pair of squat, alien creatures wandered by.

"How are your new guests fitting in?" Mirage inquired, prompting Monger to sigh in resignation, which caused the woman to smirk.

"The Boov are fitting in fine," Monger commented as another pair of aliens walked by, "I never thought this place could feel crowded, but here we are."

"You give them free roam of the base?" Mirage questioned.

"Not free roam, of course not," Monger answered with a snort, "But we're not locking them up either. They use to be slaves, so we're treating them more like refugees than criminals."

"What about the Gorg?" Mirage inquired.

"Oh, he's locked up like the animal he is," Monger replied, "Along with his little toady, Smek."

"What became of the Gorg's egg?" Mirage asked.

"It hatched," Monger answered with a shrug, "Now our scientists are doing their best to raise a few dozen starfish babies. If we're lucky, they won't turn into galactic conquerors like their daddy."

Rounding a corner, Mirage found herself in a massive corridor, the roof easily reaching a few stories above their head. Before her was a giant steel door that looked like it could take a barrage of tank shells and remain standing. As they walked towards it, there was a loud cranking sound from the door as it slowly began to open.

Stepping through the door as it continued to open, Mirage took the time to observe the room before her. It was massive one that reminded her of a missle silo, with a ceiling easily three times the height of the corridor she had just left. The room was spartan in appearance, with grey walls and a grey floor, illuminated by lights built into the ceiling. The room was circular in shape, with a number of doors similar to the one she had just come through spread out around it.

The first thing that caught Mirage's eye was the massive creature that occupied the room. The creature looked like it weighed hundreds of tons and even laying down it loomed taller than a multistory building. The thing it most resembled was a gigantic moth, with most of its body covered in what seemed to be orange and tan fur. While its head and thorax were rather large and bulky, its abdomen was slimer and almost resembled a tail. A pair of elegant pink and blue butterfly wings sprouted from the creature's back and four spindly legs were tucked against its body. A pair of feathery antena sprouted from the creature's head, while its decidedly uninsect-like pair of eyes were closed in slumber.

Near the giant moth, a table had been set up, around which four people sat, who Mirage was able to make out as she drew nearer. The most normal among them was a woman in her mid-twenties. She had a slim build and was relatively short, the most noticeable thing about her being her pure white hair that she wore pulled back in a ponytail. She was dressed in a navy blue jumpsuit with orange highlights, and a pair of red sneakers.

Next to her sat what appeared to be some kind of cross between an ape and a fish. It was mostly humanoid in appearance, with a long tail that ended in a fin and simian-like hands and feet. Its body was largely covered by green scales which turned to a dull white on its stomach and chest while frills grew from the sides of its head, its spine and the sides of its forearms. Its face was taken up mostly by its large, toothy maw, and it looked out at the world with beady black eyes beneath a thick monobrow.

The third figure was mostly human in appearance, except for its gigantic insectoid head. The most noticeable feature of the creature's head were its bulbous, sickly yellow eyes, each of which was as large as a person's skull. The creature was completely lacking in a nose and ears, but did have a pair of long antenna that sprouted from the top of its head. The skin of its head resembled the dull brown chiton of a cockroach and was bald, though it did have large, bushy eyebrows and what appeared to be a small mustache. Below its head, the creature appeared like a normal human, with pale skin and a slim, tall build. It wore a white lab coat over a black turtleneck and brown slacks, with brown shoes covering its feet.

The final figure was not humanoid by any stretch of the imagination, but actually a blob of blue goop roughly twice the mass of a person. The only features the creature possessed was a single, red eye and a large, toothless mouth.

As she drew closer, Mirage realized, to her astonishment, that the four were playing cards. Each of them was holding a number of cards close to their face, all while carefully studying each other, the blob creature having apparently formed a pair of hands and arms for this purpose. Suddenly, the blob creature let out a deep, jolly laugh as he laid his cards on the table.

"Royal flush!" the creature declared, "I win!"

The others gave the blob creature confused and dubious looks.

"Bob, buddy," the fish creature said with a deep, gravelly voice, "We're, uh, we're playing go fish."

"Got any queens?" the insectoid creature said with a cultured voice as he leaned in to see the blob's cards as the creature wore an expression of dumbfounded confusion.

"Doc!" the woman admonished, "That's cheating!"

The insectoid creature shrugged before he noticed Mirage and Monger's approach.

"Well, it seems we have guests," it observed as it rose to its feet.

At this, the others looked over as well, the fish creature's eyes going wide as it spotted Mirage.

"Boy, do we," the fish creature stated with a broad grin, before he pushed his way past the others so he could approach her.

"Hey, I'm the Missing Link," the fish creature said suavely, offering Mirage his hand while his eyes roamed her body, "My friends call me Link. How are you?"

"I'll be better when you stop looking at me like that," Mirage replied as she gripped Link's offered hand and twisted it painfully to the side, causing him to let out a squeak of pain. Releasing him, Mirage turned towards the insectoid creature as it approached.

"I'm sorry, Link can be a bit of a cad," the creature stated as he offered her his hand as well, "Dr. Cockroach, at your service."

"Agent Mirage," she replied as she shook his hand.

"Mirage?" the blob creature questioned with a snort as he slid over, "That's a weird name."

"And what would yours be?" Mirage asked with an amused smirk.

"Benzoate Ostylezene Bicarbonate," the blob creature rattled off, "But most people call me Bob."

"So," Mirage said as she began pointing at them each in turn, "Bob, Dr. Cockroach, and the Missing Link. The large one I take is Insectosaurus. Which leaves…."

"Me," the woman stated as she walked up and shook Mirage's hand, "Hi, I'm Ginormica, but you can call me Susan."

"I have to admit, I was expecting someone taller," Mirage commented with bemusement as she looked at Susan, who stood slightly shorter than the agent.

"Oh yeah," Susan agreed with a chuckle before holding up her right wrist, on which was what appeared to be a white smartwatch, "Dr. Cockroach built me this so I don't have to be big all the time."

As she spoke, Susan took a dozen or so steps away from everyone. Once she was far enough away, she pushed a button on the side of the watch. A moment later, Susan was surrounded by a light blue energy field before she suddenly began to glow exponentially. The next thing Mirage knew, Susan was standing dozens of feet tall, her towering figure casting a long shadow over the others.

"Ta da!" Susan declared with a smile, her voice now loud enough to cause Insectosaurus to begin stirring in its sleep, prompting Susan to shush the creature as she gently stroked its fur.

"Very impressive," Mirage commented with a smirk, raising her voice so Susan could hear her, "Now, if you don't mind coming back down here, I have something I'd like to discuss with you all."

Nodding in reply, Susan pushed the button on her watch again and shrunk back down to normal size before joining the others around the table.

"So, Agent Mirage," Dr. Cockroach began, "What does bring you to us today?"

"I have an offer for you all," Mirage explained as she placed a file on the table, before a thoughtful expression crossed her face, "Well, perhaps not an offer."

"What do you mean?" Link questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

"You're all being transferred," Monger spoke up, "You'll be working for the AVL from now on."

"What for?" Susan inquired as she took the file and opened it up in front of her so the others could read.

"We're putting a team together," Mirage explained, "And we want all of you to be part of it."

"Wait, hold up," Link said as he looked through the file, "Are you saying you want us to be superheroes?"

"Yes," Mirage confirmed with a nod, "We feel that with your track records, you would all be valuable members of the team."

"Oh my God!" Bob suddenly shouted as he pointed at something in the file.

"What?" Susan asked as she looked where Bob was pointing in confusion, "What is it?"

"I just realized, I can't read!" Bob answered dramatically.

The others looked at Bob in stupefied silence for a moment before Dr. Cockroach turned his attention back to Mirage.

"I'm sure we'll make you proud," he said, dryly.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty excited for this," Susan said as she pulled the file out from under Bob's hand and flipped through it again, pausing on a page with a perplexed look, "Though you seem to be missing some info on these people."

Holding the file up so Mirage could see, Susan showed the agent the part of the file documenting the Big Hero 9. Seeing that, Mirage gave the other woman an enigmatic smile.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Mirage assured her, "We have someone looking into it as we speak."

A/N: So, this one took me awhile, but I will admit, it kind of got away from me. Hell, this is the reduced version of what I was originally planning. Still, it was a lot of fun introducing most of the other characters, and I hoped you all enjoyed it as well. As usual, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	4. Orientation

**Chapter 4: Orientation**

 _San Fransokyo Institute of Technology_ ,

Near the heart of the bustling metropolis of San Fransokyo was the sprawling campus of SFIT. Gently rolling hills of green grass were broken up by modern-looking buildings made out of bright white stone. Scattered across the campus were dozens upon dozens of students, each making their way to one building or another, and many with lost expressions on their faces.

Walking across one of the quads, Hiro, Baymax, Wasabi, Go Go, Honey and Fred observed the numerous students that surrounded them. Dressed in his civilian clothes, Hiro wore a blue, zip-up hoodie over a red t-shirt, along with khaki cargo shorts and black sneakers. Next to him was Go Go, who wore a black leather jacket over a white t-shirt and black, red-lined running shorts over a pair of black leggings, along with black sneakers and black, fingerless gloves. On Hiro's other side was Fred, dressed in an orange t-shirt over a white, long sleeve shirt, along with olive cargo shorts, green sneakers and a teal ski cap that was pulled over his lanky hair. Behind Go Go was Wasabi, dressed in a olive sweater, black pants and dark brown loafers. Behind Fred was Honey, dressed in a bright yellow mini-dress over white leggings, with a yellow jacket, yellow headband and yellow platform shoes completing the outfit.

"Ah," Fred sighed happily as he turned to face the others while taking a large intake of breath, waving his hands up towards his nose as he did, "Do you smell that, guys?"

"Your B.O.?" Go Go questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

"Are you wearing recycled underwear again, dude?" Wasabi questioned, "Because, I swear, if you are-"

"No, no, no," Fred replied with a quick shake of his head, "It's the smell of a new semester!"

"I do not believe that a new semester can be detected with olfactory senses," Baymax observed, earning a chuckle from Honey.

"It's a metaphor," Fred stated, before gesturing to the bustling campus that surrounded them, "I mean, look at all these new, fresh faced students, eager to learn!"

Glancing around, Hiro smirked as he saw many of the other students had nervous looks on their faces.

"It looks to me like they're eager just to get to their first period classes," Hiro observed.

"You're right," Fred agreed as he glanced around at the students before beaming at his friends, "Luckily for them, Fred Lieber is here to show them the way."

"Oh boy," Go Go muttered as they all watched Fred step directly into the path of a female student.

"You!" Fred declared, pointing a dramatic finger at the student, almost poking her in the eye process as she stopped in front of him, "Are you lost!?"

"Um, yes," the student replied in startled surprise.

"Where you trying to get to?" Fred questioned in a friendly tone.

"The, uh, aeronautics lab?" the student replied, clearly thrown off by Fred's forward demeanor.

"Right there, across the quad," Fred explained as he pointed at one of the many buildings on the campus, "It's the one that's sort of shaped like a football helmet."

"Oh, thanks!" the student replied with a surprised smile before she began to make her way towards the building, giving Fred a happy wave as she went.

"Uh, are you giving people directions?" a male student asked as he walked up to Fred.

"Sure am!" Fred answered cheerfully, "Where are you trying to get to?"

"I was hoping to get to building 322?" the student replied.

"Just head past that building, take a left and it's right there next to the cafeteria," Fred explained, "They're doing sloppy joes today. If you want them extra sloppy, tell them Fred sent you."

"Thanks, man," the student replied with a smile as he made his way in the direction Fred had indicated.

"Hey, do you think you could help me out?" a nasally female voice asked from behind Fred.

"Sure," Fred said as he turned to face the voice, "Where do you need to…."

Fred trailed off as he caught sight of the young woman now standing before him. She had a willowy build and was relatively tall, standing an inch or so above Fred himself. She had long, raven hair that hung down to her shoulder blades, which she kept out of her face with a yellow headband. She wore a pink polo shirt along with blue jeans and red sneakers with a purple backpack slung around her shoulders. Her blue eyes were focused on Fred with a hopeful look.

"I'm looking for the applied physics lab," the young woman explained, "Do you know where that is?"

"Uh…." Fred replied dumbly, his eyes focused on the young woman as his face began to heat up, "I think….uh…."

Fred's reaction caused his friends to look at one another in confusion as the young woman's brow furrowed in concern.

"Are you okay?" she questioned.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," Fred replied quickly with a nervous laugh, "Just you know…."

An awkward pause fell between the two as Fred trailed off, causing the young woman to arch an eyebrow at him.

"Know what?" she pressed.

"How difficult it can be to find your way around here," Honey quickly answered as she stepped up next to Fred and offered the young woman her hand, "Hi, I'm Pamela Rodriguez, but everyone around here calls me Honey."

"Violet Parr," the young woman replied as she shook Honey's offered hand.

"So, you're studying applied physics?" Honey asked sunnily, "I'm a chemistry engineering major myself."

"Yeah," Violet answered, "Specifically, energy fields and light refraction."

"Pretty cool," Go Go stated as she walked up on Fred's other side and offered Violet her hand, "I'm more of a magnetism girl, myself. Name's Yuri, but most people call me Go Go."

"Nice to meet you," Violet replied as she shook Go Go's offered hand.

"If you want to talk about energy fields though, my boyfriend Wasabi is studying that sort of stuff," Go Go explained as she pointed her thumb at the young man in question.

"Wasabi?" Violet asked in confusion, arching an eyebrow as she looked up at him.

"Look, that one wasn't my idea," Wasabi replied with a sigh.

"Who's idea was it?" Violet questioned.

"Why, that would be Fred here," Hiro spoke up as he walked up next to Fred and patted him on the shoulder before a thoughtful look crossed his face, "Hey, why didn't you ever give me a nickname?"

"I, uh, couldn't come up with one," Fred mumbled as he glanced between Hiro and Violet.

"So, you're Fred," Violet surmised, pointing at the young man before turning her attention to Hiro, "Who might you be?"

"I'm Hiro Hamada," he answered as he reached out and shook Violet's hand.

"And who's your friend?" Violet questioned as she looked at Baymax standing behind Hiro.

"Greetings," Baymax replied, giving Violet a small, circular wave as he spoke, "I am Baymax, your personal, healthcare companion."

"He's your robot nurse?" Violet questioned as she looked back at Hiro.

"Well, he's not my nurse," Hiro explained, "But that's basically the idea."

"I will now scan you to check for health anomalies," Baymax stated.

"I'd rather if you-" Violet began to say as Baymax quickly looked her up and down.

"Scan complete," Baymax stated, prompting Hiro to elbow him in his inflatable gut.

"Dude, we talked about this," Hiro hissed.

"I have detected a genetic mutation," Baymax continued, causing Violet's eyes to go wide, "I believe-"

"Baymax!" Hiro snapped, cutting the robot off, "Seriously, stop. I'm pretty sure this counts as a HIPAA violation."

"But Hiro-" Baymax began to argue.

"Enough," Hiro stated pointedly, before looking at Violet apologetically, "Sorry about that. He can be a little overeager at times."

"It's fine," Violet replied as she looked at Baymax wearily, "I should probably get going anyway."

"Of course," Honey agreed, before pointing towards a building on the other side of the campus, "The applied physics lab is that building over there."

"Thanks," Violet replied, giving Honey a smile as she began walking in the indicated direction, "It was nice meeting you all!"

"Same to you!" Wasabi replied as he gave Violet a wave.

"See you around!" Go Go added as Violet turned away from the group and made her way across the quad.

Once they had judged that Violet was out of earshot, the entire group turned their attentions towards Fred.

"What was that?" Wasabi questioned.

"What was what?" Fred replied, trying and failing to feign ignorance.

"You know what we're talking about," Go Go stated, "You practically tied your tongue in a knot talking to that girl."

"I, uh, I don't know what you're talking about," Fred argued, glancing away from his friends as his cheeks turned red.

"Guys, don't you see?" Honey questioned with a smile, "Fred thinks Violet is pretty."

There was a pause as Fred's face went completely red and the other's looked at Honey in surprise. The silence was then broken as Go Go let out a bark of laughter.

"Oh man, you're right!" Hiro exclaimed as he laughed as well, "He's totally in to her!"

"Increased heart rate would indicate a physical attraction," Baymax added.

"Come on, guys, it's not that funny," Fred groaned.

"You've got to let us enjoy this a little bit, Fred," Wasabi said with a grin as he wrapped his arm around the young man's shoulders and pulled him into a one-arm hug, "You've teased all about our relationships in the past. This is only fair."

"I think it's sweet," Honey stated, "She seems like a very nice girl."

"I guess," Fred replied with a shrug, "We only talked to her for like five minutes."

"Sometimes that's all it takes," Honey argued with a shrug.

"Well, whether she's nice or not doesn't really matter," Fred sighed, "After putting my foot in my mouth that badly, I doubt she'd want anything to do with a weirdo like me."

Across the quad, Violet paused outside of the applied physics building and turned to look back at the group. A pensive expression on her face, Violet pulled out her phone and opened a picture of the Big Hero 9. Examining the grainy picture, she glanced between it and the group of six standing on the quad, a sneaking suspicion scratching at the back of her mind.

 _Undisclosed location, a few days later,_

A red station wagon rumbled through the forested landscape of a national park, a mountain looming before it as it traveled down a disused path. Inside were Bob, Helen, Dash and Jack-Jack Parr, with Bob behind the steering wheel of the vehicle. Along with them was an African-American man roughly the same age as Bob and Helen. He had a tall and lanky build with brown eyes, a bald head and a trim goatee. He wore a navy blue turtleneck along with blue jeans and white sneakers.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Helen questioned.

"I mean, this is where Rick's instructions told us to go," Bob replied as he held up a piece of paper, "At least, it matches the coordinates he gave us."

"I don't know," Helen commented doubtfully as she looked around at their forested surroundings, "You sure we didn't take a wrong turn or something?"

"Look, honey, I don't want to sound like a stereotypical guy here, but this isn't exactly a situation where I can stop and ask for directions," Bob said before he looked over his shoulder at the other man, "I mean, help me out here, Lucius."

"Well, it certainly wouldn't be where I would put a top secret superhero base," the man, Lucius, replied as he looked around at their surroundings, "But I imagine that's the point."

Bob was about to say something more when movement at the edge of his vision caught his attention. Looking out the window next to him, Bob saw that the bark of the tree right next to the car slid open, revealing a metal compartment, in which was the eye of a camera and a speaker.

"You are in a restricted area," Bob heard an an authoritative male voice said through the speaker as he rolled down the window, "Identify yourselves."

"Uh, I'm Bob Parr," he said in reply, clearly caught off guard by the sudden question, "I'm here with my wife and sons, and Lucius Best. I believe we have an appointment?"

There was a pause before the speaker crackled to life again.

"Hello, Mr. Incredible," the voice greeted, "Special Agent Dicker is awaiting you inside. Welcome to Home Base."

As the speaker finished talking, the ground beneath the car began to shake, accompanied by a metallic rumbling. A moment later, the ground began to descend, revealing that the car had been sitting on a massive elevator platform disguised as part of the surrounding landscape. As the elevator continued to descend into the bowels of the earth, the group exited the car, looking around in wonder at the massive elevator shaft. A few minutes later, the elevator began to approach the bottom of the shaft, allowing the group to see a large, open chamber.

The chamber was octagonal in shape, illuminated by fluorescent lights set into the ceiling. The walls and floor were off-white in color and many hallways led out of the room, allowing dozens of people to come and go about their business. At the center of the floor was an orange oval, upon which were emblazoned the letters AVL.

Standing between the elevator and the symbol was Rick, flanked by Lucy and Mirage, the three watching as the lift came to a halt even with the floor.

"Glad you could make it, Bob," Rick commented with a sardonic smirk as the group approached them, offering the large man his hand as he came.

"Well, we had a little trouble finding the place," Bob joked as he shook Rick's offered hand, "You might need to cut back the shrubbery."

"It keeps the solicitors away though," Rick explained with a shrug.

"Mirage?" Helen questioned as she stepped up next to Bob, Jack-Jack trailing behind her.

"It's been awhile, Helen," Mirage said as she gave the other woman a nod of acknowledgment.

"Rick had mentioned you were working for the AVL," Helen commented as she held out a hand to Mirage, "Happy to see you on our side."

"Happy to be here," Mirage replied as she smiled and shook Helen's hand.

"You must be Frozone," Lucy stated as she stepped forward and offered Lucius her hand, "I'm Agent Lucy Wilde."

"Nice to meet you, Agent Wilde," Lucius replied as he shook Lucy's hand, "Though you can call me Lucius."

"Happy you could join us, Lucius," Rick stated.

"Well, Honey wasn't happy about it, but I couldn't turn down the opportunity to get back out in the field and do some good," Lucius replied with a shrug.

"Glad to hear it," Rick replied with a nod, "The General and the Director are going to be briefing you in the ready room."

With that, Rick turned and began leading the group across the room, Lucy and Mirage following as well. Walking down one of the long hallways that led out of the entrance chamber, the group followed Rick as he led them into another large room.

The room was mostly taken up by a large circular table, around which had been set up a number of chairs. The room was illuminated by overhead lighting and one wall was dominated by a large television screen. Inside the room, Susan, Bob, Link and Dr. Cockroach were conversing with one another, but they all looked up as the other group entered.

"Our last remaining recruit should be arriving soon," Rick explained, "We'll let you all get acquainted in the meantime."

With that, Rick, Lucy and Mirage left the room, leaving the two groups alone.

"So….wow," Susan spoke up as the agents left, "If I read that file we got right, you guys are like, real superheroes."

"You're Susan, right?" Helen said as she stepped forward and offered the white-haired woman her hand, "Or, I suppose Ginormica is the correct name. And from everything I've seen, you certainly seem to fit the bill to me too. Both as a hero and a super."

"I….uh, I guess I am," Susan acknowledged as she shook Helen's hand, "I had never thought of it that way."

"What's a super?" Link questioned.

"A super is the colloquial term for a human enhanced with superpowers," Dr. Cockroach explained, "By definition, Susan and I would be examples, while you and Bob would not."

"Wait, what?" Bob spoke up, his brow wrinkling in confusion, "I uh, don't know what you think, uh, Dr. Bugman, but I'm definitely a super."

Dr. Cockroach looked at Bob in confusion for a moment before he blinked in understanding.

"That's right," Dr. Cockroach stated, "You're Mr. Incredible a.k.a. Robert "Bob" Parr."

"Ah, that's gonna cause some confusion, isn't it?" Susan commented.

"What is?" Dash questioned.

"Allow me to introduce Benzoate Ostylezene Bicarbonate," Dr. Cockroach said as he gestured towards the blue, cyclopean blob.

"The blob monster?" Lucius questioned, "Yeah, I read about him. What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, all that science-babble is kind of a mouthful," Link explained, "So, we just call him-"

"Bob," the hulking man said with a sigh.

"Hey, that's me," the blob spoke up with a smile.

As the others talked, Jack-Jack wandered over to where Bob was standing, looking up at the blob monster with wonderfilled eyes.

"You're….jiggly," Jack-Jack said before he stepped forward, pushing his hands against Bob's sides, "Like Jell-O."

"Wait, do you know Jell-O?" Bob questioned in surprise, "How is she? Is she seeing someone? Did she-"

Bob cut himself off as Jack-Jack managed to push through his membrane, causing the blob monster to accidentally absorb him, leaving the child floating in the blue goo. A hush fell over the room as everyone stared at Jack-Jack floating inside Bob's mass. Slowly, Bob looked away from Jack-Jack and scanned the room with his one wide eye.

"Um, that might be a problem," Bob stated wearily.

"Oh my God!" Susan exclaimed, her eyes wide with panic as she rushed over to Bob's side, "Bob, get him out of there!"

"I'm trying!" Bob replied, his voice sounding strained as he began to jiggle in place while Jack-Jack began laughing.

"Bob, buddy, it'd be great if you didn't dissolve a kid on our first day!" Link hissed angrily.

"We might have to cut him out if Bob can't regurgitate him," Dr. Cockroach said quickly, "I'll need a moment to construct a cutting laser."

"Cutting laser!?" Bob exclaimed shrilly.

As the monsters continued to panic, Lucius and the Parrs looked on in bemusement.

"Do you think we should tell them?" Dash proposed.

"They've probably suffered enough," Helen stated.

"Okay," Bob said with a smirk before turning his attention towards his youngest son, "Alright, Jack-Jack, that's enough clowning around! Come on out of there!"

Looking at his father, Jack-Jack laughed again before disappearing in a flash of blue light. Eyes widening in surprise, Susan, Link and Dr. Cockroach each jumped back from Bob in alarm.

"What happened!?" Bob demanded before he looked down at himself and burst into tears, "Oh no, he's gone! What have I done!? He's gone!"

A moment later, Jack-Jack reappeared next to his parents in another flash of blue light, now covered in blue goop.

"Oh, there he is," Bob commented, regaining his composure in the blink of an eye.

"Hahahaha!" Jack-Jack laughed as he looked at the goop he was covered in, "It tingles!"

"That's cause it's probably acidic," Lucius observed.

"Here, Jack-Jack," Helen said as she stepped up next to her son, "Give Mommy those yucky clothes. I'll see if I can get them washed before they dissolve."

Nodding in reply, Jack-Jack quickly stripped out of his clothes, revealing the red and black jumpsuit with a lower case, yellow i emblazoned across the front that he was wearing underneath.

As Helen gingerly took the soiled clothes from her son, Dash looked Jack-Jack over.

"You should probably get the rest of that off of you too, Jack," Dash commented.

"I think I know what will do the trick," Bob stated as he looked down at his younger son, "Jack-Jack. Go boom."

Grinning like a mad man, Jack-Jack spread his legs wide before dramatically throwing his arms out.

"Boom!" he shouted before his entire body burst into flame, the orange fire obscuring his features to the point that it appeared that his eyes and mouth had been replaced by black dots.

"Whoa!" Link exclaimed as the monsters looked at Jack-Jack in astonishment, "Just how many superpowers does this kid have!?"

"A few," Bob replied with a smirk and a nonchalant shrug.

As the fire burnt, it consumed the goop, causing a cloud of bluish smoke to raise from Jack-Jack. Sniffing the air, Dash, Lucius and Bob let out gagging coughs and quickly backed away from Jack-Jack.

"Oh, that is foul!" Lucius exclaimed as he covered his mouth.

"Alright, Jack-Jack," Bob coughed, "I think that's enough fire."

"Okay," Jack-Jack replied before the fire abruptly cut off, revealing the boy clean of goop and unharmed.

"Wow," Susan sighed as she placed a hand against her chest, "I was really worried there for a second."

"Ah, Jack-Jack has been in worse spots then that," Dash said as he affectionately rubbed his brother's head, "And he's not even in grade school yet."

"Maybe we should actually take the time to introduce ourselves," Helen said before gesturing to herself, "I'm Helen Parr, but out in field, I'm Elastigirl."

"This, as we've established is my husband, Bob," Helen continued as she gestured towards the hulking man, who waved politely.

"Then, we have my sons," Helen went on as she gestured towards the two boys, "Jack-Jack and the Dash. Or as they're known to most people, Kid Incredible and….the Dash."

The conversation came to a pause as the monsters all looked over at Dash, who was striking what he imagined to be a heroic pose.

"Seriously?" Link questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

"We've tried to talk him out of it," Bob explained with a sigh.

"You guys don't give Violet a hard time for her codename!" Dash argued in a huff.

"Yeah, that's because Ultraviolet is actually clever," Lucius commented, "Your codename is just your name with the word "the" in front of it."

"That's right, the file said you had a daughter as well," Dr. Cockroach observes as he glanced around the room, "Where is she?"

"Violet couldn't make it today," Helen explained, "She just started classes at SFIT."

"The San Fransokyo Institute of Technology?" Dr. Cockroach questioned with an amused grin, earning a nod from Helen, "Why, that's my old alma mater. She must be quite the bright young lady."

"Bright as they come," Lucius commented, "I'm Lucius Best, by the way. Or, if you prefer, Frozone."

"It really is great to meet all of you," Susan stated, "So, I guess it's our turn. As Helen said before, I'm Susan Murphy, or Ginormica. And you've already all met Bob."

"Hi, I'm Bob," Bob said happily.

"We've also got the Missing Link, or Link for short," Susan went on, indicating to her other two compatriots, "And Dr. Cockroach, or Doc."

"Are team also has Insectosaurus, but well…." Link said before trailing off awkwardly.

"She's a giant moth so she doesn't really fit in the room?" Dash supplied helpfully.

"Pretty much," Link answered with a chuckle.

"Well then," Bob said as he clapped his hands together eagerly, "Now that introductions are out of the way, I guess we should get settled in for the meeting."

"Aren't we still waiting on someone?" Susan questioned.

"Boy, I hope not," Bob replied with an annoyed sigh.

"Come on, honey," Helen said with an admonishing tone, "We've talked about this."

"Look, I get that he's trying to turn over a new leaf," Bob argued with a sigh, "I get that he's managed to do some good, but it doesn't make up for what he's done in the past."

"I don't like it either, but we're going to have to learn to work with the guy," Lucius stated.

"No offence, Lucius, but you didn't know him like I did," Bob replied, "In my opinion, if I never saw Megamind again, it would be too soon."

At that moment, one of the doors to the meeting room was suddenly kicked open and Megamind stepped in, with Minion following.

"Ollo, fellow heroes!" Megamind declared in a loud, raucous voice, "I have arrived!"

An annoyed expression took hold of Bob's features as he looked down at Helen, who could give him an awkward smile in reply.

"Oh my gosh!" Megamind declared as he looked towards the monsters, "It's really him!"

Rushing over to Dr. Cockroach, Megamind skidded to a halt in front of the scientist, grinning like a giddy school boy.

"Dr. Cockroach," Megamind said as he offered the scientist his hand, "It's an honor to meet you. I'm Megamind."

"Well, this is a surprise," Doc replied with an amused smirk as he shook Megamind's offered hand, "And here I thought you wouldn't have heard of me."

"Wouldn't have heard of you!?" Megamind exclaimed with a laugh, "Your paper on genetic resequencing changed my life!"

"They still publish that old thing?" Doc questioned with a chuckle, "I figured they would have tossed it out after my, er, accident."

"It's still out there if you know where to look," Megamind commented with a smirk.

"Hey, pal," Link said as he stepped up and offered Megamind his hand, "Name's Link."

"The Missing Link," Megamind stated as she shook Link's hand before indicating behind him, "I read the report about you. I think you'll get along great with my friend, Minion here."

Turning to look at Minion, Missing Link study the strange creature for a moment.

"So, you're like a fish piloting a robot gorilla suit?" Link questioned as he gestured at Minion.

"Alien fish," Minion correct, "But yes, essentially."

"Cool," Link commented with a nod, "Cool."

"Hi, I'm Bob," Bob said as he slithered up and offered Megamind his hand. Instead of shaking Bob's hand, Megamind leaned down and began examining the pseudo-arm that was extending from the rest of his mass.

"Fascinating," Megamind mumbled as he moved away from the arm and began examining the rest of Bob's mass, "And it's true that you don't possess a brain?"

"Turns out you don't need one," Bob answered.

"That seems very debatable," Megamind commented as he turned away from Bob and offered his hand to Susan, "Megamind."

"Ginormica," Susan replied as she shook Megamind's hand, "Or you can just call me Susan."

"It's good to meet you, Susan," Megamind said, "No, tell me, what's it like being fifty feet tall? I've built a couple of giant robots roughly that tall, so I've got some sense of what it's like, but it's not the same as being that tall, you know?"

"Uh, sir," Minion spoke up.

"Yes, Minion?" Megamind questioned as he turned to look at his companion.

"Don't you think you should finish introducing yourself to everyone before commencing with small talk?" Minion suggested.

"Right, of course! How rude of me," Megamind replied as he spun around before approaching Lucius and the Parrs, "Megamind, a pleasure."

A hush fell over the room as Megamind stood directly in front of Bob Parr, his hand extended towards the other man. Looking down, Bob examined the offered hand for a moment before raising his gaze to glare at Megamind. The moment dragged on, an Megamind began to awkwardly glance around. Finally, Bob reached down and took Megamind's hand.

"Bob Parr," Bob introduced himself coldly.

"Another Bob?" Megamind questioned in amusement, "My, I'm sure that's going to be-"

Megamind cut himself off as he let out a yelp of pain, accompanied by the cracking of bones as Bob squeezed harder on Megamind's hand.

"Bob!" Helen snapped angrily.

"What?" Bob questioned as he released Megamind's hand while Dash chuckled and Lucius pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm just shaking the guy's hand."

"That's quite the grip you've got there, Bob," Megamind commented as he cradled his injured hand against his chest.

"Oh, like you weren't expecting it," Bob snorted contemptuously.

"...Why would I expect that?" Megamind questioned in confusion.

There was a pause as Bob blinked in bafflement.

"You do know who I am, don't you?" Bob questioned after a moment.

"You're….Bob?" Megamind replied hopefully.

"No, that's me," Bob the blob spoke up.

At this point, Minion quickly hustled over to Megamind's side and laid a hand on the alien's shoulder while Bob began finishing for something in his pocket.

"Sir, did you read all of the files Agent Wilde gave us?" Minion questioned quickly.

"I may have skimmed some of them," Megamind admitted.

"Sir, I feel it's very important that I tell you-" Minion began to say but stopped as Megamind held up a hand.

"Please, Minion, you're being very rude," Megamind said as he began to turn back to Bob, "Can't you see that I'm talking to-"

Megamind cut himself off as he looked at Bob again, finding the man was now glaring at him from behind the domino mask he had put on. As Megamind looked at Bob, he felt his throat go dry, forcing him to take a loud, nervous gulp.

"Mr. Incredible," Megamind finished, giving Bob a nervous smile as he did, "My, it's been a long time, hasn't it? I'd say, what-"

"Twenty years," Mr. Incredible answered through gritted teeth.

"Yes, that sounds about right," Megamind replied as he began to lean away from Bob, prompting him to lean in closer, "You're not still mad about-"

"I'm still mad about all of it!" Bob snapped as he reached out and grabbed the front of Megamind's uniform before halling the alien off of his feet.

"Bob!" Helen snapped, "Put him down!"

"Whoa, wait, you guys know each other?" Link questioned as the other monsters looked on in surprise.

"Well, Metro Man may have been my archnemesis," Megamind explained, looking over his shoulder as he hung in the air, "But I did dabble in fighting other heroes from time to time. Especially-"

"Me!" Bob snarled, bringing Megamind's attention back to him, "And since you killed Metro Man, I guess that makes me your new archnemesis, you murdering son of a-"

"That's enough, soldier!" a new voice spoke out from over the room's loudspeakers as the image of a hard looking, grey haired man in an Army officer's uniform appeared on the screen, taking up half of it, "Put him down."

"General Monger?" Bob questioned in surprise, "Sir, I-"

"That wasn't a request, Parr," Monger said, an edge to his voice, "Put him down."

A resigned expression crossed Bob's face before he tossed Megamind onto the ground.

"Wait, you guys know each other?" Link repeated, sounding even more confused than before as Minion helped Megamind off of the floor.

"That we do," Monger confirmed with a nod, "Bob and I go way back."

"I'm surprised they haven't forced you out yet, sir," Bob said as he removed his mask.

"There's still fight in me yet, soldier," Monger commented with a chuckle.

As he did, the second half of the screen was filled with the image of an overweight man with brown hair and a tweed suit.

"Ah, I see you're all here," the man observed, his voice colored by a refined British accent, "Excellent, if you all take your seats, we can begin."

Slowly, everyone found and took seats at the large table.

"I suppose introductions are in order," the British man continued, "I am Silas Ramsbottom, the Director of the Anti-Villain League. My compatriot here is General W. R. Monger of the United States Army."

"Heh," Bob whispered with a giggle to Susan, "He said monger."

"I believe you're all up to speed on why you've been brought here?" Ramsbottom asked.

"You wanted to put a team of superheroes together," Lucius commented, "Something of an old fashioned notion if you ask me."

"Which is why we figured it'd be a good way of testing the waters to removing the Supers Act," Monger replied, "Get people use to having superheroes out in the open again."

"While still maintaining strict, governmental control," Ramsbottom added.

"Makes sense to me," Helen commented with a nod.

"Now, while we're not ready to act on this information, we should inform you as to why we chose to activate this program," Ramsbottom went on.

"There was a specific reason?" Susan questioned.

"My agents have recorded a large uptick in supervillain sightings," Ramsbottom explained, "Including a number who haven't been seen in years."

"Any idea what it's about?" Lucius questioned.

"Not yet," Monger answered, "But we think it might be connected to this."

A moment later, the two men's images were replaced by the pictures of the destroyed Russian lab.

"What's this?" Link questioned.

"A secret Russian facility that was attacked recently by persons unknown," Ramsbottom informed them, "All we know for certain is that the facility had been working on creating an mutagen known as PX-41."

"Any idea what the mutagen does?" Doc inquired.

"Not at the moment," Monger answered.

"All this, there must be someone behind it, right?" Helen suggested, "Someone bringing all these villains together."

"It would appear that you are correct Mrs. Parr, as my agents have collected chatter referring to just such an individual, though we've only managed to ascertain his quite appropriate name," Ramsbottom explained, "Enigma."

 _Unknown location_

The room was dark except for the overhead lights that hung just above the workbench. A figure, cloaked almost entirely in shadow, sat at the bench, working on something with a screwdriver in his left hand, its right arm ending just below the shoulder. As the figure worked, the door to the room opened and Phantasma stepped in.

"Sir," she stated simply, standing a few feet away from the figure with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Report, Phantasma," the figure said in a harsh, electronic voice, not looking away from his work as he spoke.

"Experimentation with PX-41 has been completed," Phantasma reported.

"Results?" the figure asked.

"Optimal," Phantasma replied.

"Excellent," the figure said happily as he put down the screwdriver, "Have you finished compiling the data you collected on the Big Hero 9?"

"I have, sir," Phantasma answered, "It is awaiting your study."

"Good, good," the figure stated as he picked up what he had been working on, a skeletal, mechanical arm, "Tell our contact in San Fransokyo, Mr…."

"Mr. Yama, sir," Phantasma supplied.

"Tell Mr. Yama that our plans are a go," the figure said as he placed the mechanical arm against the stump of his right arm, which made a loud, mechanical clicking noise before the arm hung in place, "Once he gets a sample, that is."

"Yes, sir," Phantasma replied with a nod.

"And inform the others," the figure continued as he flexed the fingers of his metal arm experimentally before curling them into a fist, "I think it's time we prepare for stage two."

A/N: So, this one ended up getting away from me a little, but I think it turned out pretty damn good in the end. Let me know what you think! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	5. What Shapes You

**Chapter 5: What Shapes You**

The afternoon sun hung low over the city of San Fransokyo, casting everything in bright oranges and deep purples, including the high-end neighborhood where Fred's house was. The Big Hero 9 were currently all gathered at the mansion, though instead of spending their time in the bunker beneath it, they had all gathered in Fred's bedroom.

Fred's bedroom was larger than entire levels of some people's houses. The most noticeable feature were the dozens of pieces of nerd memorabilia, such as statues the size of people in the likeness of various famous kaiju monsters along with dozens of models of sci-fi vehicles hanging suspended from the ceiling. A large, king-sized bed occupied a section of the room, as did a number of bookshelves along one wall that were stuffed with hundreds of comic books. Another one of the walls was dominated by a giant, flat-screen television with a plush, sectional couch facing it.

Currently, Tip and Hiro were seated on the couch, playing a video game being displayed on the television. Go Go sat on the couch as well, glancing between the television screen and the comic book she was flipping through. Fred, meanwhile, was standing by his bed, studying a tackboard that hung above it. A number of pictures and news articles had been attached to the board, connected to each other via pieces of red string, forming a makeshift web around a mysterious man named Gru. In a more open area of the room, Riley, Wasabi and Baymax were standing in a line, each in the loose stance of tai chi.

"Okay, Baymax," Riley said, "How about we try that new move Takahito-sensei taught us?"

"But Riley," Baymax argued, "The maneuver has already been stored in my new tai chi database. I have already mastered it."

"Humor us," Wasabi replied with a roll of his eyes.

With that, the three began to slowly move through a complex series of smooth and fluid motions, which included slowly turning in place and carefully controlling their breathing. After a few minutes, they finished the movements and returned to their starting positions.

"Man, I've got to say, nothing makes me feel more relaxed then when I do a little tai chi," Wasabi said as he rested his hands on his hips and let out a contented sigh, "It just puts me into such-"

At that moment, the doors to Fred's room swooshed open automatically, allowing Oh to enter, carrying a steaming plate of nachos with him.

"I HAS NACHOS!" Oh screeched at the top of his lungs as he entered.

"And there it goes," Wasabi commented with a sigh.

"Come on, Wasabi, he's not that bad," Riley chided as Oh made his way over to where Tip and Hiro were sitting.

"You never had to live with him," Wasabi replied with a snort.

"Eh, it's not that bad if you ask me," Fred spoke up as he walked over to where Riley, Wasabi and Baymax were standing.

"Easy for you to say," Wasabi retorted as he crossed his arms over his chest, "You live in a mansion. I live in an apartment."

"Fair enough," Fred replied with a nod.

"Hey, Fred!" Go Go called out, bringing the young man's attention to her as she held up the comic book, "You got anymore of these!?"

"Go Go, please," Fred said in a faux offended tone, "Surely you know I have an extensive and carefully maintained library of comics at your disposal."

"I didn't mean any comic, dope," Go Go replied with an annoyed look, "I meant more of this series."

Walking over to the couch, Fred took the comic Go Go had been reading and looked it over. The cover depicted a young woman with shoulder-length auburn hair dressed in a white and red spandex costume. Her features were obscured by the red, domino mask she wore and the picture depicted her riding a technologically advanced motorcycle while an explosion erupted behind her. The name "Elastigirl" was emblazoned above her head in bold, colorful font.

"An Elastigirl fan, huh?" Fred questioned with a quirked eyebrow, "Yeah, I think I've got a couple more issues of her."

"Elastigirl?" Wasabi mused as he, Riley and Baymax walked over as well, "She's a real super, right?"

"That's not a legit question, is it, Darron?" Go Go asked, looking at Wasabi like he had done something offensive.

"Whoa," Wasabi replied with a bemused smirk, "Touched a nerve there, huh? You a fan of hers or something?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Go Go admitted with a sigh and a roll of her eyes.

"Elastigirl, she's the stretchy one, right?" Riley questioned.

"Yeah, stretchy limbs, can bend herself into weird shapes, the whole shebang, Fargo," Go Go answered, "But she's a lot cooler then just that."

"How so?" Riley inquired.

"She's a great fighter, had this super cool motorcycle," Go Go went on, a smile spreading across her features as she did, "There was even a period where she had a mohawk. I wanted to get one but I'm pretty sure my mom would have ritually sacrificed me in her hair salon if I had."

"She sounds like you," Riley observed with a chuckle.

"What? No," Go Go rebutted, though Riley could sense that the young woman's heart wasn't in it even without her powers, "I'm not-"

"Oh my God," Wasabi commented with a large grin, "She's totally your idol, isn't she?"

"So?" Go Go replied, giving Wasabi a death glare that was undercut by the blush that was coloring her features, "What of it?"

"Nothing," Wasabi replied with a chuckle and a shake of his head, "You're just so independent that it never occured to me that there would be someone you looked up to."

"How did you become a fan of Elastigirl anyway?" Fred questioned as he leaned against the back of the couch and folded his arms, "You never struck me as a supers fan."

"I'm not," Go Go clarified with a sigh, "But, when I was little, I remember my parents watching the news and a story came on about how Elastigirl had saved a bus full of kids or something. I saw the footage of her in action and, I don't know, something just clicked. At that moment, she was everything I wanted to be, and I guess that never really went away."

"Well, now that you're a superhero yourself, maybe you'll get the chance to meet her," Riley suggested.

"Hopefully we all will," Fred added, "I'm always down for a good superhero team up."

"Speaking of all of us," Riley said, "Where's Honey?"

"Working late in the lab," Go Go answered with a sigh.

"Again?" Riley questioned in surprise.

"Girl practically lives there these days," Wasabi commented.

"I need to get her out of there," Go Go replied, "She can't keep going like this."

"Why don't you take her out or something?" Wasabi suggested, "Make a girls' night of it."

"Yeah, that's a pretty good idea," Go Go agreed with a nod, before a sly smile crossed her features, "Maybe we could bring along that new girl we met the other day?"

"What new girl?" Riley questioned with a furrowed brow, not noticing as Fred's eyes went wide at the comment.

"We met her a few days ago," Go Go answered nonchalantly, "She's a new student at SFIT and she seemed pretty cool."

"What was her name again?" Wasabi questioned, seemingly picking up on where Go Go was going, "It was like a flower, right? Lily?"

"No, I think it was Daisy," Go Go replied.

"Rose, maybe?" Wasabi suggested.

"Petunia possibly?" Go Go asked.

"It's Violet guys, come on!" Fred snapped in agitation.

At this, both Wasabi and Go Go turned to smile knowingly at Fred.

"That's right," Go Go said with a facious grin, "You would know, of course."

"Why would Fred know?" Riley questioned.

"Oh, because Fred totally has a crush on the new girl," Hiro commented, his eyes focused on the game he was playing.

"Wait, what!?" Tip exclaimed as she whipped her head around to look at Hiro, causing the game to let out a few sad sounds, prompting Hiro to sigh and throw his hand up in defeat.

"Fred has a crush on a girl?" Riley questioned with a broad grin.

"How does one has a forceful reducing of size on anothers?" Oh asked in confusion.

"Aw man, that was a trick, wasn't it?" Fred said with a groan.

"Yeah, duh," Go Go replied with a chuckle.

"Don't change the subject," Tip said seriously as she looked over at Fred, "You have a crush on some new girl?"

"I don't know, I guess?" Fred replied with a sigh, "Like, she's pretty yeah, but I don't know anything about her. I mean, we only talked for like, five minutes."

"Well, I'm sure you'll bump into her again," Hiro said, "SFIT isn't that big of a place. You'll run into her again and maybe you guys will hit it off?"

"I doubt it," Fred argued with a sigh as he leaned against the back of the couch, "I practically shoved my entire foot into my mouth while talking to her. I doubt she'll ever want to even look at me again."

 _Meanwhile, somewhere over the United States,_

Violet sat in a white upholstery chair in the passenger area of the private jet she was traveling in with her eyes glued to her phone. Displayed on it was the picture of Hiro and his friends she had taken after meeting them. Her face screwed up in a thoughtful expression, Violet slid her thumb across the screen, changing the image to a blurry photo of the Big Hero 9.

"Penny for your thoughts?" a voice asked, snapping Violet back to reality.

Looking up, Violet watched as Mirage stepped out of the cockpit and walked over to her.

"Oh, just thinking about that thing you guys asked me to look into," Violet replied with a smile before glancing around, "Thanks for sending the private jet to come pick me up, by the way."

"We were in the neighborhood," Mirage replied with a shrug as she stopped next to the chair that was facing Violet, "Mind if I sit?"

"Go ahead," Violet answered with a smirk, "It's your plane."

"Technically, it's the League's plane," Mirage said with a smirk of her own as she took the seat, "Now, do you have any new info for us?"

"Not really," Violet replied with a tone of disappointment, "I think I have a lead, but nothing solid yet. Sorry."

"Please, don't apologise," Mirage said with a dismissive wave of her hand, "You're not one our agents. You're doing us a favor. I'm sure you'll find something, given time."

"Thanks," Violet replied, a small smile growing on her face, "You know, it's still kind of weird seeing you again. Like, I know my mom said you were working for Rick now, but still. I mean, it's been what? How many years?"

"Five," Mirage answered, and Violet couldn't help but notice her stiffen slightly, "It's been five years since we last saw each other."

"If you don't mind me asking, what have you been up to since then?" Violet asked, "How did you go from the right hand woman of a supervillain to an agent of the Anti-Villain League?"

"Well, as you imagine, after everything that happened, the AVL had more than a few questions for me," Mirage explained, "Even though I willingly turned myself in and your father vouched for me, I was still complicit in the deaths of a number of superheroes. So, I ended up spending an awfully long time locked up alone in a dark cell."

"What changed?" Violet inquired.

"Agent Rick Dicker," Mirage answered with a smirk, "He had been the one who was carrying out my interrogation. During our many talks, Rick realized I wanted to turn over a new leaf. Add in the fact that by working for Syndrome, I had gained insider knowledge about other, still at large villains, and he figured I could be a valuable asset to the League. So he pulled some strings and gave me a chance."

"Just like that?" Violet asked in surprise.

"Well, no, not just like that," Mirage replied, "Director Ramsbottom was never keen on the idea of me working as an agent. Rick was able to convince him by saying it would be a more beneficial use of my sentence to have me work for the League instead of locking me up."

"So, you worked for your freedom?" Violet surmised.

"Still am," Mirage corrected as she held up her right hand. As she did, Violet noticed what she hand previously thought was a white smartwatch on Mirage's wrist. On closer inspection though, Violet could see that the device was locked close.

"Is that a…." Violet began to ask.

"Tracking device?" Mirage provided as she lowered her arm, "Yes, as well as an inhibitor."

"Inhibitor?" Violet inquired with a confused expression.

"Let's just say that if I tried to make a run for it, things would get unpleasant for me," Mirage explained, "So I spend my time either in my little apartment at Home Base or exactly where the League tells me to be. Nowhere else."

"That sounds pretty rough," Violet observed.

"It's the price I have to pay," Mirage commented with a shrug as she turned her head to look out the jet's window, "It's worth it for the chance to do some good in the world."

A silence fell between the two as Violet looked at Mirage, an apprehensive expression on her face.

"Mirage?" Violet finally spoke up, bringing the woman's attention back to her, "Why did you work for Syndrome?"

"Because he wanted the same thing I did," Mirage explained, her expression becoming unreadable, "He wanted to destroy superheroes and their legacy."

"Why would you want that?" Violet questioned, clearly taken aback.

"Because I felt that people had grown too attached to the idea of superheroes," Mirage elaborated, "Even after the Supers Ban, they had grown too used to the thought of someone coming down to save them when they needed help. I felt that people had forgotten how to take care of themselves."

"That's why you worked for Syndrome," Violet concluded, "His end game."

"When everyone's super, no one will be," Mirage recited.

"But why?" Violet pressed, "Why would you want that?"

"Because relying on superheroes got my parents killed," Mirage answered simply.

"What?" Violet asked in shock.

"I grew up in San Fransokyo, you know," Mirage said nonchalantly, "My mother's family had lived there for generations. My father was an immigrant from Japan."

Violet said nothing, but her brow furrowed in confusion at the information.

"I think I was about ten when it happened," Mirage went on, a wistful look on her face, "It's funny how an event came be one of the most important of your life and yet you can forget things about it. We were down at the pier, but I can't remember why. I suppose that's not the important part."

"What is?" Violet inquired.

"When the fight between Excelsior and Dr. Nefario reached us," Mirage answered.

"I'm not familiar with them," Violet admitted.

"They were before your time," Mirage replied with a shrug, "Excelsior was a tech based hero who protected the city. Dr. Nefario was your typical mad scientist type. They had fought each before."

"What happened?" Violet asked.

"What always happens during these battles," Mirage explained, "Collateral damage."

Mirage paused as she turned to look out the window again.

"The two had been fighting over….something," Mirage continued, "I don't remember what, but it had spilled out onto the pier. Nefario had some kind of laser weapon. He attempted to use it against Excelsior, but Excelsior deflected the attack….right into the pier. The resulting explosion tore the pier in half and lit the rest on fire. I watched people plummet twenty feet into the water and never come back to the surface. I heard people scream as they caught fire."

"What did you do?" Violet asked, her eyes wide.

"I did what any child would do," Mirage answered, "I looked to my parents. My mother wanted to find a way off of the remains of the pier but my father was insistent that we stay put. He was sure that Excelsior was going to save us."

"Did he?" Violet inquired.

"No," Mirage answered as she looked back at Violet, "The rest of the pier collapsed under us and we fell into the water. The next thing I remember was being resuscitated by an EMT. I had broken my leg in three places and had suffered a concussion. My parents weren't so lucky."

"They died?" Violet inquired gently.

"Yes," Mirage replied, "Along with twenty-seven other people. It caused quite an uproar. It wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back, that was your father's incident with the train a short time later, but looking back on it, you can see that it was one of the events that led to the Supers Ban. But none of that really mattered to me. All that mattered was that my parents were dead."

"And you blamed Excelsior for that," Violet observed.

"Why wouldn't I?" Mirage questioned with a snort of amusement, "Dr. Nefario hadn't been trying to blow up the pier. He hadn't been trying to kill my parents. It was Excelsior who deflected the blast into the pier. It was Excelsior who got my parents killed, especially because my father was foolish enough to believe that he would save us."

Mirage paused as she let out a tired sigh.

"At least, that's what I told myself during those long years of growing up in the foster system, becoming more bitter with every passing year," Mirage went on, "It wasn't long before I fell in with the wrong crowd and started committing petty crimes. That's when I found out I was good at being a criminal. That's how I became Mirage. One thing led to another and I ended up being approached by Syndrome to help with his operation. As you can imagine, I was eager to sign up."

"So, what changed?" Violet inquired, "What made you turn against him?"

"It was when he tried to kill you, your mother and your brother," Mirage answered, "When he fired a missile at your plane. Do you remember?"

"I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that," Violet replied as she repressed a shiver, "I almost died."

"That was the point I realized that Syndrome had lied to me," Mirage explained, "When he fired on you, we were with your father. Your mother said that you were on board, but he didn't care. He just wanted to see your father hurt. He wasn't crusading to try and make the world a better place. He was out for petty revenge."

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Violet inquired hesitantly.

"What?" Mirage asked, looking taken aback, "No, of course not. I had wanted people to stop depending on superheroes. I blamed Excelsior for my parents deaths, but that never meant I wanted to hunt him down and put a gun to his family's head. I had hoped you thought better of me then that."

"I do!" Violet quickly apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"It's fine," Mirage replied with another sigh, "I just feel foolish looking back on it. Especially with what happened after."

"What happened after?" Violet asked as her brow furrowed again.

"You don't know?" Mirage questioned in surprise, earning a shake of the head from Violet, "I'd have thought your father would have told you. Though, I suppose he might have been too ashamed of it to tell you."

"My dad?" Violet parroted in confusion, "What happened?"

"After your plane was destroyed, your father fought against his bonds enough to grab me," Mirage explained, "He took me hostage, demanding that Syndrome let him go or he would, as he put it, snap me in half like a twig."

"My dad said that?" Violet asked in shock.

"It was a bluff," Mirage reassured her, "Even after thinking he had just heard his family die, I don't think your father had it in him to kill someone in cold blood. And Syndrome called him on it. But I could tell that it didn't matter that your father was bluffing. Syndrome would have let him kill me. To him, I was nothing but a tool."

"So, you decided to switch sides," Violet observed.

"I did," Mirage confirmed with a nod, "Which ultimately leads us to today."

"Look, I know I asked, and I really appreciate you sharing this all with me, but why are you telling me all this?" Violet asked.

"Because we have a history and we're going to be working together, so I thought you deserved my whole story," Mirage explained, "Besides, I already told it to the rest of your family, so I couldn't go leaving you out."

"I suppose not," Violet replied as a small smirk appeared on her face, "Though I can't help but notice you didn't tell me what your real name is."

"Funny that," Mirage commented with her enigmatic smile while she glanced out the window, "Looks like we've arrived."

Looking out the window, Violet could see that the jet was now flying low over a large forest, with a lonely, rocky mountain directly below them. As they passed over the mountain, a loud, mechanical noise caught Violet's attention. Looking out at the jet's wing, Violet watched as the turbine attached to the wing pivoted in place so that it was pointed up, causing the jet to hover in the air.

Catching sight of some motion out of the corner of her eye, Violet looked down at the ground below. As she watched with wide eyes, the top of the mountain opened up like a blooming flower, revealing that it was hollow and apparently constructed out of metal. As the mountain finished opening, the jet began lowering itself into it, entering a large metal shaft that was hidden within the mountain, which was illuminated by flood lights placed at strategic intervals.

A few minutes later, the jet emerged from the shaft into a large hanger, where a number of similar jets, as well as a variety of other aircraft sat waiting. One side of the hanger was dominated by a large doorway that seemed to lead into another dark shaft. Looking down, Violet saw that the jet was descending towards a circular mark on the ground, directed by flight crewmen with glowing batons.

Suddenly, a monstrous roar shook the hanger. Snapping her head up, Violet let out a gasp as she saw Insectosaurus come barreling towards the jet. Before the giant insect could ram into the jet, the pilot jerked the aircraft to the side, avoiding Insectosaurus but sending the vehicle into a flat spin.

Letting out a cry of panic, Violet quickly gripped the arms of her chair to keep from being thrown out as Mirage did the same. Thinking rapidly, Violet prepared to create a shield around the jet to blunt the impact of the crash. Before she could though, the jet violently jerked and came to a halt, the force dislodging Violet from her seat and knocking her to the floor.

Picking herself up, Violet looked out the window, and was caught off guard by the sight of Ginormica's head taking up most of the view.

"Is everyone okay in there?" Ginormica questioned as she looked at the occupants through the windows.

Gently, Ginormica lowered the jet to the ground before stepping away. As the doors to the jet opened up, she shrunk to her smaller stature and quickly ran over to the aircraft.

"Are you all alright!?" Susan questioned again as Violet and Mirage descended uneasily from the jet.

"Yes, Susan, I think we're okay," Mirage replied as she and Violet finished descending, "What happened?"

"Insectosaurus is still getting used to this place," Susan explained with an anxious expression, "She got spooked and ran in here."

Looking over, Violet saw that Insectosaurus was now at the center of the hanger, her eyes darting around like a nervous rabbit. An number of agents had surrounded the massive creature, doing their best to keep her calmed and corralled. A few moments later, a large drone came flying into view. Stopping in front of Insectosaurus' face, the drone began flashing a bright light at the creature. As Insectosaurus focused on the light, her eyes went wide and she began moving towards the drone, her posture relaxing. The drone, in turn, slowly flew away from her, prompting Insectosaurus to follow it.

"Well, at least we have that handled," Mirage observed as their pilots exited the jet.

"Yeah," Susan agreed, watching as Insectosaurus was led away before she turned her attention towards Violet and offered the younger girl her hand, "I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced yet. I'm Susan."

"Violet," Violet replied as she shook Susan's hand.

"Right, you're Bob and Helen's daughter," Susan commented with a look of understanding, "The one who's going to school in San Fransokyo."

"That's me," Violet answered with a friendly smile, following along behind Mirage as she signaled to them to follow her out of the hangar.

"I'm actually from the area," Susan explained, "I grew up in Modesto."

"Really?" Violet questioned with a smile, "Well, maybe you can come out sometime and show me around?"

"That sounds great!" Susan agreed with a grin, "It's been forever since I've been back to California."

"Awesome," Violet stated, "I'm already looking forward to it."

A/N: Another chapter done! I have to admit, I struggled a little with this one at first, but I found my groove as I went along. Definitely had fun writing up the bits with Mirage. As always, feedback and critiques are more than welcome, so please review! Later!


	6. Testing Phase

**Chapter 6: Testing Phase**

The afternoon sun hung heavy over the campus of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, casting it in a golden glow as the students and faculty went about their business. The light also reached into Hiro's lab, coming in through the circular window that took up a large part of one of the walls.

Hiro's lab was a square shaped room with three off-white colored walls and one made out of opaque glass, in which was the door leading out of the room which was directly across from the circular window. The three off-white walls were lined with workbenches, leaving the center of the room largely open, though tools and materials were scattered about and power cables criss crossed across it.

Standing at the center of the room, Baymax watched as Hiro hustled back and forth, taking things from the various cluttered workbenches as he went.

"Hiro," Baymax spoke up, "What task are you performing?"

"I think we're due to give you an upgrade, buddy," Hiro replied as he stopped in front of Baymax and grinned broadly at the android.

"But Hiro, I have just received an upgrade to my crime fighting equipment," Baymax observed.

"That's not what I was talking about!" Hiro hissed as he gestured for Baymax to keep his voice down, "And keep it quiet about the crime fighting, remember?"

"My apologies," Baymax replied in a quieter tone.

"Anyway these aren't those type of upgrades," Hiro explained, "These are upgrades for what you were actually built for. You know, medical stuff."

"But Hiro, I am able to provide top of the line medical care with my current functionality," Baymax argued.

"Right, and I wouldn't dream of changing something Tadashi built," Hiro explained, "Maybe upgrade is the wrong word. Maybe added functionality is better?"

"What added functionality?" Baymax inquired.

"Okay, so if hanging out with Riley has taught me one thing it's that if you really want to take care of someone, you have to connect with them," Hiro answered.

"Connect with them?" Baymax parroted as he cocked his head to the side in a quizzical expression.

"Feel what they feel," Hiro elaborated, "Empathize with them."

"But Hiro, I am a robot," Baymax argued, "I cannot empathize with people. I have no emotions."

"Normally, you'd be right," Hiro replied with an excited smile, "Until today!"

As Hiro spoke, he held up a yellow colored data chip on which he had drawn a depiction of a cartoon heart.

"What is contained on that chip?" Baymax inquired.

"Well, as much as I admire the mystery of the human experience, the fact of the matter is that emotions are just chemical reactions going on in a person's brain," Hiro explained, "So, taking all that into account, there shouldn't be any reason I can't program some emotions into you."

"There is logic to this," Baymax agreed, "But I do not have any more open dataports."

"Right, and I'm working on upgrading your mainframe to give you more dataports," Hiro explained as he indicated towards a piece of half-finished technology sitting on one of his workbenches, "But for now, since we're just testing it, we'll just switch one of your other data cards."

As Hiro spoke, he walked up and tapped on the port on Baymax's chest, causing a cylindrical device to emerge. The device was built with three dataports that were currently filled with data cards colored green, red and blue. Reaching up, Baymax grabbed the red data card, which had a skull and crossbones drawn on it, and pull it out before replacing it with the yellow one. After the dataports retracted back into Baymax's chest, the android went stock still for a moment as his eyes flashed yellow.

"How do you feel, buddy?" Hiro questioned hopefully.

"Emotional responses processing," Baymax replied flatly, "Please wait."

"Fair enough," Hiro commented with a sigh.

As he spoke, the door to his lab opened and Riley and Tip stuck their heads in.

"Hey, Hiro," Riley greeted cheerfully as she and Tip stepped into the room, "You wanted us to meet you here?"

"Yeah guys, come see this!" Hiro said as he gestured the girls over excitedly.

"Oh wow," Tip said sarcastically as she and Riley walked up next to the young man, "It's Baymax. What will you think of next?"

"Ha ha," Hiro faux laughed as he shot Tip a glare, "That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you…." Riley began to say before she trailed off as she felt a strange buzzing sensation in the back of her mind.

" _What is that?_ " Fear whispered.

Turning her gaze towards Baymax, Riley's eyes widened in surprise as the buzzing sensation increased.

"Hiro," Riley began to say as she looked at the android in confusion, "What did you do to Baymax?"

"Wait, you can sense that!?" Hiro asked in excited astonishment, "Wow, I never thought that you'd be able to pick up artificial emotions."

"What do you mean artificial?" Tip asked in confusion.

Before Hiro could answer, the buzzing at the back of Riley's head suddenly became a buzzsaw cutting at her skull.

"Ah!" Riley cried as she grabbed hold of her head and scrunched her eyes closed, "Something's wrong!"

"Riley!" Hiro yelled in surprise as he ran over to Riley, "What is it!?"

As Hiro asked this, the feeling in Riley's head took on a sudden, sharp clarity as her eyes snapped back open.

"Look out!" Riley said as she jerked her head up to look at Baymax with wide eyes.

At that moment, Baymax's own eyes turned bright purple as he threw his head back and let out a blood-curdling scream, his voice reaching such a high pitch that electronic distortions began to leak into the android's voice. A moment later, Baymax began to flail around while letting out panicked whimpers. As Baymax thrashed about, Hiro, Riley and Tip quickly retreated as far from the android as the room would allow.

"What's happening!?" Tip demanded as she grabbed hold of Hiro's shirt and looked at him with wild eyes.

"I-I was trying to install some emotions into him!" Hiro quickly explained, "I knew that there would be some bugs to work out, but I didn't expect this!"

"It's alright, Baymax!" Riley called as she cautiously approached the android, who had gotten onto one of Hiro's work benches and was now desperately scratching at the walls, "It's going to be alright!"

"Alright!?" Baymax exclaimed as he spun to face Riley, who saw that his eyes had now changed to a deep shade of blue, "Alright!? Nothing will ever be alright again!"

As the trio watched, Baymax turned around and fell off the work bench, faceplanting onto the floor, where he began to dramatically pound his fist and kick his feet while sobbing, his voice muffled by the ground. For a moment, the trio couldn't do anything but stare at Baymax's display in shock.

" _Talk about mood swings,_ " Disgust commented.

"It's okay, Baymax," Riley repeated, holding her hands out in front of herself to show she meant no harm, "We'll get that chip out of you and you'll be right as rain."

"Right as rain?" Baymax repeated as his sobbing stopped.

At that point, Baymax rolled over onto his back and looked at Riley with yellow eyes.

"Right as rain!?" Baymax giggled, "That's hilarious!"

As the trio watched, Baymax clutched his belly and began rolling around on the ground, laughing hysterically.

"We have to get that thing out of him," Riley said as she looked back at Tip and Hiro.

"Right," Hiro agreed with a nod as he began to move towards Baymax, "Let me just-"

"Oh, I'm laughing so hard, my stomach hurts! I don't even have a stomach!" Baymax declared as his eyes turned green, "I think I'm going to-"

Before Hiro could reach him, Baymax rolled over, holding himself off the ground with his hands as his eyes turned green. A moment later, Baymax began making a retching noise, as if he was vomiting.

"Did you really program him to vomit!?" Tip questioned in shock.

"No, I did not program him to vomit!" Hiro snapped back in frustration, "I was just trying give him something so that he could help people better!"

"You," Baymax snarled as he stopped retching and turned to look at Hiro, his eyes now scarlet in color, "You did this to me!"

 _"Uh oh_ ," Fear muttered.

As Hiro looked at Baymax with wide eyes, the android stood up, grabbed a nearby chair and lifted it above his head. At that exact moment, the door to the lab opened, and Wasabi stepped inside, with Go Go following behind him.

"Guys, what the hell are you doing in-" Wasabi began to say before his eyes widened in surprise as Baymax turned his attention towards the young man and threw the chair at him. Letting out a cry of surprise, Wasabi dodged to the side while Go Go ducked, causing the chair to sail past them and crash into the room beyond.

Quickly assessing the situation, Wasabi charged forward, ducking as Baymax flailed his arms at the young man. Sliding around Baymax, Wasabi quickly grabbed the android's arms and locked him into a full nelson. Following Wasabi's lead, Go Go rushed forward before dropping into a slide on the lab's smooth floor. As she reached Baymax, Go Go swept one of her legs against Baymax's feet. As Go Go tripped the android, Wasabi lifted Baymax off the ground before spinning around and slamming the robot facedown on the floor. Baymax quickly began to thrash about in order to escape, but Wasabi lay on the android's back and held him firmly to the floor.

"What's going on!?" Honey exclaimed as she and Fred rushed into the lab.

"Baymax is going berserk!" Hiro quickly explained, "You guys need to hold him down so I can get a data chip out of him!"

Hearing this, Wasabi quickly rolled over, putting his back against the floor while he held the still squirming Baymax against his chest. A moment later, Go Go rolled onto Baymax's kicking feet as Honey and Fred ran over and pinned down the android's arms. As the four of them fought to hold Baymax down, Hiro rushed over and tapped the port on the android's chest. Once the mainframe was fully extended, Hiro ripped out the yellow data chip before he quickly backed away.

As soon as Hiro removed the data chip, Baymax stopped struggling and went still, his eyes returning to their normal black color.

"I apologize," Baymax stated in his normal monotone as he looked around at everyone while his mainframe retracted back into his chest, "I hope I did not injure anyone."

"It's all good, buddy," Fred replied as he patted Baymax on the chest before standing up, "No harm, no foul."

"What the hell just happened though?" Go Go questioned as she rolled to her feet and looked at Hiro.

"I was trying to install some artificial emotions into Baymax," Hiro explained, looking down at the data chip as he fiddled with it, "I thought it might help him empathize with people."

"Hiro, you can't just go around messing with Baymax's programing like that!" Honey said sharply, catching everyone off guard as she stood up, "Your brother put a lot of hard work into him. What if you had done something that damaged Baymax irrevocably! You have to be careful!"

"I know that!" Hiro snapped back, glaring at Honey as he did so, "I was just trying to help!"

"Sometimes you just make things worse, Hiro!" Honey practically spat, causing Hiro's head to jerk back as if he had been struck.

"Honey!" Wasabi spoke up as he placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder as he turned her to face him, giving her a reproachful look, "That's enough."

Honey looked at Wasabi in surprise, blinking as if she had just been woken up from a dream.

"Mistakes happen, Hiro," Wasabi said as he looked over at the boy in question, who was now staring at his feet, "I mean, I almost cut the whole building in half once with one of my experiments. It's all part of the scientific process."

"I guess," Hiro replied with a dejected tone, looking up at Riley as the girl walked over and laid her hands on his arm while giving him a sympathetic smile.

"Despite the setback we have just experienced, I believe that these artificial emotions will be a welcome addition to my capabilities," Baymax spoke up, "I agree with the hypothesis that being able to empathize with my patients would make me a better healthcare companion. Even if the sensation is….peculiar."

"Thanks Baymax," Hiro replied as he looked at Baymax and smirked at the android.

At that point, most of the group gave Honey pointed looks, while the young woman had the decency to look ashamed.

"I'm sorry, Hiro," Honey apologized as she took off her glasses and rubbed at her eyes, "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

"It's okay, Honey," Hiro replied with a shrug, "I know you can get a little….protective of Baymax."

"I suppose," Honey agreed with a small smile as she placed her glasses back on, "I think I'm also feeling a little on edge today."

"That's probably because you've been spending so much time in the lab lately," Go Go observed, "Between your experiments and our….group activities, you've been running yourself ragged."

"Yuri, we've talked about this," Honey replied with a tired sigh.

"We have," Go Go confirmed curtly, "That doesn't change the fact that I'm right and that you need to get out of the lab more."

"Would it really hurt you to come have some dinner with us, Pamela?" Wasabi questioned, cutting off Honey's attempt to argue, "Take some time to relax a little?"

"I mean, I wanted to get a few more things done in the lab," Honey retorted weakly.

"Come on, Honey," Fred pushed, "You can't spend your whole life in the lab or on patrol. You got to get out there! Live a little! Seize the day!"

There was a pause as Honey looked around at the pleading faces of her friends before she let out a defeated sigh.

"Alright," Honey answered as she gave her friends a smile, "I suppose I can spare an hour or two."

"Awesome!" Tip replied with a grin, "Now, let's get going, because I'm starving."

Together, the group left the lab, Hiro leaving the emotion chip on one of his work benches as he departed. Making their way out of the building, the group began traveling across the SFIT campus. As they walked, Honey caught sight of something.

"Hey, isn't that the new girl?" Honey questioned as she pointed at something, "Violet, right?"

Looking up, the others watched as Violet gilded down the sidewalk towards them atop a purple longboard, her raven hair fanning out behind her while her backpack was slung over one shoulder. Instead of looking where she was going, Violet's gaze was actually focused on her phone, apparently unconcerned with the chance of crashing.

"A skater, huh?" Go Go questioned as she crossed her arms and smirked, "I'm liking this girl more and more."

"She isn't wearing the proper safety equipment though," Wasabi pointed out as he crossed his arms and shook his in disapproval, causing Go Go to roll her eyes, "And texting while skateboarding? That's just asking for trouble."

"Hey, uh, we should probably get going, don't you guys think?" Fred questioned nervously.

"Why?" Tip questioned with a teasing tone, "You nervous to talk to your crush?"

"N-No!" Fred argued weakly as his face turned red, "I just think-"

"Too late for thinking now," Go Go interrupted as she held her hand up and waved at Violet, "Hey! Freshman!"

Hearing the call, Violet looked up from her phone and spotted the group. Smiling, Violet put her phone back into her pocket before slowing her skateboard, hopping off and flipping it into hand.

"Hey, guys," Violet greeted with a friendly smile, "What's up?"

"Just seeing how you're doing," Go Go explained with a shrug, "How's college life treating you?"

"Pretty good," Violet answered with a shrug, "Takes some getting used to but I'm making due."

Looking at the group, Violet's eyes fell on Riley and Tip.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met," Violet said, "I'm Violet Parr."

"Riley Andersen," Riley greeted with a smile.

"Tip Tucci," Tip added with a nod.

"Do you guys go here as well?" Violet inquired.

"No, we're just friends of Hiro and the others," Riley explained with a shake of her head.

"Yeah, we can't all be super geniuses," Tip said with a shrug.

"So, what are you all up to?" Violet questioned as she addressed the group.

"We were just heading to get a bite to eat," Wasabi answered, "You?"

"I was just taking a look around campus," Violet answered, "I haven't really had the time to explore much yet."

"Well, I would say that you're in luck then," Honey spoke up as she laid her hands on Fred's shoulders, "Nobody knows the ins and outs of campus like Fred here."

"Really?" Violet questioned in amused surprise as she looked at Fred, "He seemed to struggle with it last time we spoke."

"He was just having an off day," Honey argued gently, "Trust me, there's no one better."

As she spoke, Fred turned his head and gave Honey a desperate, questioning look. Looking down at him, Honey mouthed the words "seize the day" at him before winking. A look of realization crossed Fred's face before he took a calming breath and turned back towards Violet.

"Yeah, I can show you around," Fred stated.

"You can?" Violet questioned as she blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, sure," Fred replied with a grin, though his face was still red, "I know this place like the back of my hand."

"You sure?" Violet asked as she quirked an eyebrow at the group, "I don't want to mess up your plans."

"It's no problem," Wasabi answered with a shake of his head, "Honestly, we need a break from him every once in awhile."

"Hey!" Fred snapped as he shot Wasabi an annoyed glance, his friend merely shrugging and chuckling at him in response.

"We'll see you later, Fred," Go Go said as she began to walk away, prompting the others to follow her, "Meet us at the Lucky Cat Cafe later if you get hungry."

"Sure thing," Fred said as he gave his friends a wave.

Turning back to Violet, Fred felt his face heat up as he found her looking at him. There was a pause as the two looked at each other, Violet taking a moment to run a hand through her raven hair before giving Fred a smile that seemed to light up her face.

"So," Violet questioned, "Where to first?"

 _Meanwhile_ ,

An old, beat up, grey van lumbered its way down the road towards the business center of San Fransokyo, where floating generators hung above towering skyscrapers. Inside the van, two men sat in the front while another half dozen sat against the walls of the van's back compartment. Each of the men were dressed in plain black clothes and ski masks, along with black gloves and boots. Over their clothes, each man wore black body armor, and they all carried assault rifles.

Sitting apart from the others, with his back to the partition separating the two halves of the van, was a large man. He stood taller than the other men and was far more rotund, dressed in the same clothes and body armor the others were wearing. His face was uncovered, revealing his Asian features and dark brown eyes, with his black hair pulled back into a small ponytail. Leaning against the seat next to him was a massive gun, almost as long as he was tall.

"Mr. Yama?" the man in the van's passenger seat said, speaking through the small window in the partition, "We're thirty seconds away from the target."

"Good," Mr. Yama replied with a grin as he turned his attention to the other men, "You hear that? We're thirty seconds out. You all remember the plan, right? We go in hard, and we go in loud."

"What happens if some heroes show up before we can get out?" one of the men questioned.

"That's what I brought this little beauty along for," Yama answered with a savage grin as he picked up the massive gun and slung the strap that was connected to it over his shoulder.

"Five seconds!" the man in the passenger seat informed them, prompting the rest to ready themselves and check their weapons.

A few moments later, the van jerked about as it mounted the sidewalk before it screeched to a halt. As lines of smoke rose from the van's tires, the back door was kicked out and Yama hopped down to the sidewalk, his displaced weight causing the vehicle to rock violently back and forth. A moment later, the rest of the men came streaming out of the van and went rushing towards the building the vehicle had stopped in front of.

As the men moved past him, Yama pulled out a black, ceramic, featureless mask and slid it over his face. Once it was secured, Yama looked up at the building before him, the words "KreiTech" written above the front door.

"Alright," Yama said to himself, his gun making an ominous clicking noise as he readied it and moved towards the building's front door, "Let's bring the ruckus."

A/N: A shorter chapter but still a fun one, hope you guys enjoyed it as well. As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	7. Suit Up

**Chapter 7: Suit Up**

As the evening sun began to set into the San Fransokyo bay, Fred and Violet made their way across the SFIT campus.

"You know, for a tour guide, you're being awfully quiet," Violet observed with a smirk as she looked over at Fred.

"Oh man, I'm sorry," Fred quickly apologised as he looked back at Violet.

"It's okay," Violet replied with a small laugh, taken aback slightly by the forcefulness of Fred's apology, "I was just teasing you."

"Ah, geez," Fred sighed as his face flushed with embarrassment, "I'm really sorry then."

"You don't need to apologize," Violet said as she stopped walking next to one of the campus buildings and gave Fred a questioning look, "Is there something wrong?"

"Wrong?" Fred repeated with a nervous titter, "Why would anything be wrong?"

"Because this is the second time we've interacted, and you've been weird both times," Violet answered bluntly, "Did I do something wrong?"

"What? No, it's not you," Fred replied with a sigh as he scratched the back of his head and looked down at his feet.

"Then what is it?" Violet questioned as she crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow at Fred, "We might as well get it out of the way now."

Fred was quiet for a moment as he searched for the right words, feeling like his face was on fire. Finally, Fred took a deep breath and lifted his head to look at Violet.

"Would you be mad if I told you that I act weird around you because I think you're really pretty?" Fred inquired as he gave Violet an awkward smile.

A silent moment passed between the two as Violet blinked at Fred in surprise, a blush slowly coloring her cheeks.

"Oh," Violet said meekly, finally breaking the silence as she lowered her head and allowed some of her hair to curtain part of her face, "That...that explains a lot actually."

"Look, I'm sorry if I made this super weird or something," Fred said quickly as he held his hands up in front of him, "If you want to leave, I totally get it."

"Oh, come on," Violet chided with a smile, sweeping her hair back with one hand, "I don't mind a guy calling me pretty if he's not being a creep about it. Which you're not, by the way."

"Oh," Fred replied in surprise, "Alright then."

"So, is this the part where you ask me out?" Violet questioned.

"W-What?" Fred stuttered as his face flushed again.

"I said, is this the part where you ask me out?" Violet repeated, smiling as she rolled her eyes.

"...Would you say yes?" Fred inquired.

"I haven't decided yet," Violet answered with a shrug and a smirk before giving Fred an appraising look, a blush still coloring her features, "I will say that I don't think you're exactly hard on the eyes either."

Fred felt his face turn completely red as Violet gave him a teasing wink.

"Well, I'd totally ask you out then, but I feel like we barely know each other," Fred explained as he scratched the back of his head.

"Lucky for you, we're in the perfect situation to fix that," Violet replied.

Turning to a low, stone wall that surrounded most of the building they were standing near, Violet took off her backpack and placed it on the ground next to her before leaning her skateboard against it. Then, turning towards Fred, Violet sat on the wall.

"Come on," Violet said as she pat the space next to her with one hand, "Have a seat."

Smiling, Fred sat down next to Violet.

"Now what?" Fred inquired once he was comfortable.

"Now, we talk," Violet answered, "Tell me all about yourself."

"Well, my name's Fred," he responded in a jovial tone.

"I know that," Violet said with a laugh as she elbowed Fred playfully in the side.

"Well, what do you want to know then?" Fred inquired with a chuckle of his own.

"How old are you?" Violet asked.

"Twenty-one," Fred answered.

"Oooo, an older man," Violet said with amusement, "My dad would not approve. What's your major?"

"English lit," Fred replied.

"I didn't know SFIT had an English department," Violet said as her brow furrowed.

"It doesn't," Fred confirmed with a shake of his head, "I'm not a student here."

A moment passed as Violet stared at Fred in confusion.

"Then why are you here so much?" Violet inquired.

"I like it here," Fred explained with a shrug, "I consider myself something of a science enthusiast. I love checking this stuff out even if I don't fully understand it."

"And the school just lets you hang around like that?" Violet questioned as she quirked an eyebrow at Fred.

"Well, in their defense, I am also the mascot," Fred answered with a smirk, causing Violet to let out a snort of laughter.

"The mascot, huh?" Violet inquired, earning a nod from Fred, "Nice. Alright, your turn."

"My turn?" Fred parroted in confusion.

"To ask me a question," Violet explained.

"Right, right," Fred replied before thinking for a moment, "Well, I suppose I should cut right to the chase. You dating anyone?"

"Not at the moment, no," Violet answered with a wan smile, "There was a guy I was dating for awhile back in high school but that didn't work out."

"Sounds like a touchy issue," Fred observed.

"Not really," Violet replied with a shrug, "He ultimately wasn't onboard with what I wanted to do with my life."

"His loss," Fred stated.

"Now you're just brown nosing," Violet observed as she pointed a finger at Fred, "But keep it up. Flattery will get you everywhere."

"Alright," Fred replied with a chuckle that failed to hide the reddening of his cheeks, "Your turn."

"Got any siblings?" Violet inquired.

"Nah, only child," Fred answered with a shake of his head, "You?"

"Two younger brothers," Violet replied.

"Favorite movie?" Fred asked.

"The Princess Bride, easy," Violet answered quickly.

"Not Star Wars?" Fred questioned in mock offense, "Inconceivable!"

Violet giggled in delight at the joke before a thoughtful look crossed her face.

"Here's a meaty one," Violet warned with a smile, "Why are you such a 'science enthusiast'?"

"Well, I guess there are a couple of reasons for that," Fred replied, "The first is that my dad is something of a scientist, so even though I've never really had the smarts for that kind of stuff, I grew up admiring the kind of things that science could do. The second is that I've always been a pretty big fan of superheroes."

"What do superheroes have to do with science?" Violet questioned in amusement.

"What don't they have to do with science?" Fred countered, "The only way that you can get superpowers is through science. You either have to be involved in a freak lab accident, or get your hands on some advanced tech, or, if you're lucky, have parents who were superheroes so they can pass their superpowers on to you."

"I don't think it works quite like that," Violet observed with an enigmatic smile.

"But it must be close to it," Fred replied with a shrug, "My point is that, as a kid, there was nothing I wanted in the world more than to become a superhero. So, I think I ended up hanging around in a place full of bleeding edge science because part of me hoped that, on the off chance, I would become a superhero by being here."

"And do you still hope that you'll become a superhero by hanging around here?" Violet inquired.

"Eh, not any more," Fred answered with a shrug, "I mostly just like hanging out with the friends I've made here. Just watching them do all their crazy science experiments is excitement enough for me."

"What kind of stuff do your friends do?" Violet inquired, "I suppose I have to count myself as a science enthusiast, so I'm interested to find out."

"Did you want to go have a look?" Fred questioned with an excited smile.

"Are we allowed to do that?" Violet questioned with a doubtful but amused expression.

"Look, my friends trust me not to break their stuff," Fred reassured her, "As long as we only touch a few things, it should be fine."

"That sounds extremely dubious," Violet observed with a grin before she hopped off the wall, "Let's do it."

"Really?" Fred questioned in excitement as he hopped off the wall as well, "Alright!"

"Lead on, fellow science enthusiast," Violet said, gesturing at Fred as she picked up her backpack and skateboard. Nodding in reply, Fred began making his way across the campus with Violet falling in step next to him.

 _Meanwhile,_

Across town, Wasabi's van rumbled to a stop in front of a restaurant sitting at the corner of two intersecting streets. The building was colorfully painted, with the first floor consisting of a cafe while the upper floors were clearly a living space. Above the door was a sign reading "Lucky Cat Cafe" which was being held by a carved, smiling, white cat.

"Look, I don't understand why I can't drive the van," Tip said in annoyance from her position in the middle seat of the van's second row.

"Because it's illegal," Wasabi replied with a sigh from the driver's seat as he put the van into park and killed the engine.

"So's being a vigilante," Go Go stated with a tone of amusement as she opened the door and hopped out of the front row passenger seat.

"Just because we're out in the city fighting crime every night doesn't mean I'm going to let a twelve year old drive a car in broad daylight," Wasabi argued in a hushed tone as everyone else exited the van.

"You're just jealous because I'm a better driver than you," Tip accused as the group entered the cafe, a tiny bell above the door ringing as it opened.

The inside of the cafe was typical for a restaurant of its type, with small tables and comfortable chairs scattered about for the handful of patrons who were present to use. Directly across from the front door was a counter, on which sat a cash register and a cappuccino machine while a television hung in a corner above it. Behind the counter were a pair of double doors that led into a back room while a staircase to the upper floors sat on the right side of the room.

Standing behind the counter was a middle aged woman with light brown hair that hung to the base of her neck, green eyes and Caucasian features. She wore a green apron over a black t-shirt and blue jeans.

Looking over at the group as they entered, the woman flashed them a bright smile.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite customers?" the woman observed.

"Hey, Aunt Cass," Hiro greeted as the group made their way to the counter.

"I see you even managed to drag Honey out of the lab," the woman, Cass observed before she gave the young woman in question a warning look, "You had better not be here to work."

"No, just here for some food," Honey replied with an embarrassed smile.

"That's good to hear," Cass replied, her brow furrowing as she looked over the group, "Though you all seem to have lost Fred along the way."

"Oh, well, on the way here we ran into Violet, that girl he likes," Riley explained with a grin.

"Did you now?" Cass questioned, her interest peaked as she leaned against the counter.

"Yeah, so we left them alone so they could talk," Riley continued with a tone of excitement in her voice.

"Well, I'm going to need all the details once you have them," Cass said as she straightened back up, "But for now, what can I get you kids?"

"Uh, Cass," Wasabi spoke up, his attention fixed on the television in the corner, "Can you turn the volume up?"

Looking at Wasabi in confusion for a moment, Cass grabbed a remote from behind the counter and turned up the volume of the television.

"If you're just joining us, this is SFNN with a breaking news report," the voice of a reporter said as the television displayed a bird's eye view of a large building somewhere in the city, with a swarm of police cars parked in front of it, their lights flashing, "A few minutes ago, armed men stormed the interm headquarters of KreiTech, which is being used while repairs are being conducted on their main headquarters following the alien attack a few months ago. Police were quick to surround the building following reports of gunshots, but were repelled by heavy weapons fire. So far, the gunmen have not emerged from the building, and no demands are currently known."

"Oh my God," Cass whispered in horror, covering her mouth with her hand as she tore her gaze away from the television and looked at the others. At that point, the group also pulled their attentions away from the television and looked at one another anxiously.

"I imagine you guys are going to go handle this?" Cass said quietly to them.

"We need to, but we don't have any of our equipment," Hiro answered with an anxious expression.

"What!?" Cass whispered in shock, glancing around to make sure none of the other patrons weren't listening in, "Where is it?"

"Back at Fred's house," Riley explained, "We didn't think to carry it around with us."

"So you have to go all the way to Fred's house to get your stuff before you can go help those people!?" Cass asked.

"It's the only way," Tip replied, "I could pilot the van over there but I could never get it inside the building."

"We're just going to hope we can get our stuff before things kick off down there," Go Go said.

"Too late," Wasabi said solemnly as he looked back at the television. Following his gaze, the others saw that gunmen in the building's windows had opened fire on the police officers, forcing them to retreat and find cover as the high caliber bullets tore into their vehicles.

"We have to do something!" Riley whispered, her eyes wide.

"But what? At this rate, we'll never get there in time," Hiro replied, "Our stuff is too far away."

"That's not strictly true," Honey replied with an awkward tone.

At this, the others turned and looked at Honey with confused expressions.

"So, you know how you made some pieces of our equipment as backup, Hiro?" Honey questioned with a strained smile.

"Yeah?" Hiro confirmed with a questioning tone.

"I may have borrowed some of it," Honey admitted.

"Why?" Tip questioned.

"I was seeing if I could chemically treat them to withstand certain hazards we might encounter," Honey explained with a shrug, "I had some time on my hands and I….wanted to stay busy."

"Girl, we need to teach you how to have fun again," Go Go commented as she gave Honey a level look.

"This is fun for me," Honey replied defensively, causing Go Go to roll her eyes.

"So what you're telling me is that you left out equipment laying around the school lab!?" Wasabi hissed sharply.

"I locked it up," Honey argued weakly.

"Okay, so you've got a set of our equipment at the lab," Hiro said, "I don't see how that helps us. We'd still need to go there and grab it before-"

"Fred is currently within close proximity to the lab," Baymax pointed out, bringing everyone's attention to him.

"Right, Fred's still on campus!" Riley exclaimed.

"And what, we're just going to send him in there by himself?" Tip questioned.

"Until we can get there to help him, it's the best thing we can do," Hiro said as he pulled out his cellphone, "Those people in there need help, and one superhero is better than none at all."

 _Meanwhile_ ,

Opening the door, Fred reached in and flicked the lights on before stepping aside and letting Violet enter the lab. Stepping inside, Violet looked around with wide eyes.

"Wow, you weren't kidding," Violet said with a note of awe in her voice, "This is some cutting edge stuff."

"You don't know the half of it," Fred replied with an excited smile before he waved Violet over to one of the work stations. Walking over to it, Violet found what appeared to be a high end bicycle, constructed out of sleek, yellow metal. On close inspection, Violet noticed that the wheels, which were solid metal disk, were not attached to the bike frame, but hovered an inch or so away from the spokes.

"Magnetic suspension?" Violet inquired as she inspected it.

"Yeah, this is Go Go's baby," Fred explained, "No friction means faster speed right?"

"Exactly," Violet agreed with a nod before glancing away from the bike. As she did, she spotted something that made her eyes light up with excitement.

"Are those laser field emitters?" Violet questioned as she jogged over to a different part of the lab, where two pylons sat about three feet away from one another.

"Yeah, this is Wasabi's project," Fred confirmed as he ran over to her, "Careful with it though. I've seen those lasers cut through solid steel."

"I bet," Violet replied with an impressed expression, "So this is Wasabi's, the bike is Go Go's, what about Honey?"

"Right over here," Fred answered as he led Violet over to a different work area, where most of the work space was occupied by vials and beakers of various sizes, "This is where she makes the chemistry happen."  
"Chemistry, huh?" Violet commented.

"Yeah, Honey's a wiz at," Fred confirmed, "And then there's Hiro's area where he does his robotics stuff, but there's not much in there right now."

"Chemistry, robotics," Violet muttered to herself as she swept her gaze around the room, a thoughtful expression on her face, "Magnetic suspension and lasers…."

"Everything okay?" Fred asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just-" Violet replied before her expression turned anxious, "Fred….can I-"

" _Remember me, for centuries!_ " a voice loudly declared from Fred's pocket as it began to buzz.

"Oh crap!" Fred exclaimed as he fished his phone out while the song continued to blare, "I'm sorry Violet, that….they wouldn't call if it wasn't an emergency…."

"No, it's fine," Violet replied as she waved off his apology, her expression still nervous.

"Sorry, it will be just a minute," Fred said as he turned and walked a short distance from Violet before answering the phone.

"Hiro, I'm kind of in the middle of something," Fred answered somewhat curtly before his posture became tense, "What?...It's happening right now?….I mean, yeah but what am I….The lab? Really? I mean I'm there right now….Nevermind what I'm doing wha-...Yes, I'm still with her….I'll see what I can do, what was that number again….Okay thanks, I'll get there as quick as I can."

With that Fred ended the call and slid his phone back into his pocket with a sigh.

"Everything okay?" Violet asked, quirking an eyebrow at Fred as he turned back to her.

"Oh, uh, yeah, everything is fine!" Fred replied with a nervous laugh, "I just….need to go?"

"You need to go?" Violet questioned in confusion.

"No, I mean, you need to go," Fred quickly corrected.

"Why?" Violet inquired, her tone turning suspicious.

"Because…." Fred floundered as he glanced around the room, his eyes falling on Honey's chemistry equipment, "Because there's a leak! A chemical leak!"

"A chemical leak?" Violet parroted, clearly not believing him.

"Yeah!" Fred exclaimed.

"And your friends now that….how?" Violet pressed, looking unamused.

"Because-" Fred began to say before Violet stopped him by holding up her hand.

"Nevermind, I don't care," Violet said before pointing at Fred, "You're hiding something."

"What?" Fred replied, sweat forming on his brow as he let out a nervous laugh, "No, I'm not-"

"Fred," Violet interrupted sharply, giving Fred a cold look as he did.

Seeing this, Fred bit his lip and clenched his hands while glancing around nervously before sighing and slumping his shoulders in defeat.

"Yeah, I'm hiding something," Fred admitted before raising his head and looked at Violet pleadingly, "Do you think….you can keep a secret?"

At this, Violet smiled and placed her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, I think I can manage that," Violet replied.

A few moments later, Fred and Violet were standing in front of a large cabinet that sat in the corner of Honey's work area. Turning his attention towards the keypad on the front of the cabinet, Fred quickly inputted a series of numbers, causing the keypad to chirp and unlock. Pulling the cabinet open, Fred found that the inside was made up of a number black metal shelves on rollers, each labeled with a name. Spotting the name Kaiju, Fred grabbed it and pulled it out, revealing a complete set of his equipment.

"You're Kaiju," Violet said as she stood on the opposite side of the shelf from Fred, looking down at the costume as she spoke, "You're one of the Big Hero 9. You and your friends are the Big Hero 9!"

Looking up at Fred, Violet found him scratching the back of his head and looking at her nervously.

"...Yyyyyessss?" Fred finally admitted.

A quiet moment passed between the two of them before a smile that threatened to tear her face open spread across Violet's features.

"I knew it!" Violet declared triumphantly, "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"

"You did?" Fred asked in confusion.

"What's the emergency?" Violet questioned quickly.

"How did you-" Fred began to ask.

"Fred!" Violet cut him off as she made a "hurry up" motion at him with her hands, "What's the emergency!?"

"Oh, uh, armed gunmen have stormed the KreiTech headquarters and are in a shootout with police," Fred explained, "None of the others have their equipment, so I have to go ahead of them."

"What!?" Violet exclaimed before she grabbed hold of the bottom part of Fred's costume and tossed it at him, forcing the young man back a step as he caught it, "What are you waiting for!? Hurry up and get your stuff on!"

Nodding his head in understanding, Fred quickly began to pull on the bottom half of his costume, hopping up and down until he had his back to Violet. Reaching behind him, he grabbed the top part of his costume and slipped it on. As he finished securing the costume, he paused as he heard the sounds of zippers and rustling cloth.

"Are you…." Fred began to say, his brow furrowing as he began to turn around, "Are you….getting changed?"

"Yes! Don't turn around!" Violet snapped, causing Fred to quickly turn so his back was to the young woman as his face turn bright red.

"S-Sorry!" Fred apologized, "I-I wasn't trying to peek at you! Honest!"

Violet didn't say anything as Fred reached behind him and grabbed his head piece.

"V-Violet?" Fred questioned nervously.

More silence.

"Violet?" Fred repeated, his tone becoming confused.

Steeling himself, Fred turned around, only to find Violet was completely gone. He looked around wildly but found no sign of Violet anywhere besides her skateboard and backpack, which sat open on the floor with her crumbled up jeans on top of it.

"I thought I said don't turn around," Violet suddenly said from directly behind him. Letting out a yelp, Fred spun around, but found no one behind him.

"Violet?" Fred asked in confusion, "Where are you?"

"Right here," Violet said before she suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of him. As he jumped back in surprise, Fred got a good look at the outfit Violet was now wearing which was largely made out of spandex that was skin tight in places. The costume was made up of a leotard that was mostly purple in color except around her waist, where it was black, matching her black, thigh-high boots and gloves. Over this she wore an open, stylish, black coat, the end of which hung loosely by the back of her calves. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail with a purple hair tie, and her features were obscured by a black domino mask. On her chest was an insignia displaying a stylized purple V on a black oval.

A moment of silence passed between the too as Fred stared at Violet in shock, his headpiece slipping out of his numb hands and thumping against the ground.

"You okay?" Violet questioned with an amused smirk.

"...Ooooooh my God, you'RE ULTRAVIOLET!" Fred exclaimed, his voice reaching a pitch that hurt Violet's ears.

"Yep," Violet replied as she stuck a finger in her ear and wiggled it, "That's me."

"That….I….This is so cool!" Fred shouted excitedly, "Is….Is that a new costume?"

"Yep," Violet replied as she took the ends of her coat in her hands and did a quick pirouette, "I figured since I'm branching out on my own, I needed a solo outfit for myself."

"That's awesome!" Fred stated, his grin threatening to tear his face apart.

"Look, I'd love to stand here and talk shop with you, but there are people who need our help," Violet said, looking Fred dead in the eye as she spoke, "So, what do you say, Kaiju? You up for an old fashioned superhero team up?"

His grin turning savage, Fred snapped his headpiece into place.

"You know it."

A/N: Now this was a very fun chapter for me to write. Very excited to fully introduce my version of Violet. Hope you guys like it! Plenty of action to come next chapter! As always, feedback and critiques are welcome, so please review! Later!


	8. Irresistible

**Chapter 8: Irresistible**

The sun had almost fully set beneath the bay as Fred and Violet made their way across the rooftops of San Fransokyo. As Fred used his super jump to bound from building to building, Violet clung tightly to his back.

"Do you know where you're going!?" Violet called, the wind whipping through her hair as they leapt between buildings.

"Of course!" Fred replied, looking over his shoulder at Violet as he took another leap, "I know this city like the back of my-"

"FRED!" Violet suddenly shrieked.

Quickly turning his attention forward, Fred saw that the two of them were careening towards some scaffolding that had been set up on the roof of the building they had jumped towards. Letting out a squeak of surprise, Fred quickly reached out and grabbed one of the metal supports and used it to swing them down onto one of the levels of scaffolding. Landing on the wooden platform, Fred ran down it before leaping off the end, sending them both soaring towards the next building.

"Well," Fred said with a nervous chuckle, "That was new."

Violet could only sigh and roll her eyes.

 _Meanwhile_ ,

The man grunted as he was pushed unceremoniously to the floor of the building's atrium. He was a middle-aged man, with Caucasian features, light brown hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in a fine, navy blue suit with a white button-up shirt and brown loafers. His clothes were disheveled and a cut on his forehead oozed blood.

"Well, well, well," Yama said as he crossed the atrium, his voice muffled by his mask and his boots crunching on broken glass, "Alistair Krei, I presume?"

"Who are you people?" Krei demanded, looking wearily at the masked gunmen flanking him, "What do you want?"

"Oh, I've got a list actually," Yama said as he pulled out a smartphone and looked at it, his gun resting against his shoulder, "Uh, we're going to need seven proton torpedos, two dilithium warp drives and a flux capacitor."

"What...That's…." Krei muttered as he looked at Yama with a baffled expression, "None of those things are real."

"Ah, shame," Yama replied as he put his phone away and looked at the gunmen, "Put him with the others."

With that, the two gunmen grabbed Krei by his arms and roughly pulled him to his feet. Together they led Krei over to where a group of a dozen or so other people had been gathered, watched over by two other gunmen. The gunmen shoved Krei towards the group, causing him to stumble for a step or two before he caught himself.

"What do you people want!?" Krei angrily demanded as he whirled on the gunman. In response, one of the gunmen slammed the butt of his machine gun into Krei's stomach. The blow forced Krei to bend over and stumble backwards, forcing his employees to catch him before he fell, the men and women letting out cries of fear and alarm.

"Quiet," the gunman said coldly before turning away from the group.

"Boss!" another gunman, this one standing by a window near the building's front entrance, "Boss, I think I've got incoming."

Turning towards the gunman in question, Yama made his way over to him.

"What do you see?" Yama questioned.

"I got two figures moving on the rooftops," the gunman replied, looking above the line of police cruisers that were blockading the entrance.

"Only two?" Yama questioned before sighing in disappointment, "Oh well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers."

Turning his attention away from the window, Yama walked into the center of the atrium.

"Listen up!" Yama shouted, bringing the gunmen's attention to him, "Looks like we got a couple of heroes coming out way. Just like we hoped."

Yama grinned under his mask as the gunmen nodded and muttered in approval.

"How about we get this party started?" Yama suggested as he cocked his massive gun.

 _Meanwhile_ ,

As Fred landed on a rooftop across the street from the front entrance of the KreiTech building, Violet quickly slid off his back. Together, they moved to the edge of the roof, crouching low in an effort to remain unseen.

"Any idea how many are in there?" Violet questioned.

"The news report said eight or nine," Fred answered with a shrug, "But it could be more."

"They're bound to have some hostages," Violet mused.

"There!" Fred declared, pointing towards one of the windows with a clawed finger, "I can see some people huddled near the back of the room."

"Okay," Violet replied, a pensive look on her face, "I think I can work with this."

"You got a plan?" Fred inquired.

"If you don't mind me taking the lead on this," Violet answered.

"You kidding?" Fred questioned with a chuckle, "You've been doing this way longer than I have. Plus, I'm not much of a plan guy."

"Alright," Violet said with a smirk, "I'll sneak down there and get into a position to enter the building without anyone noticing me. Give me a minute to get ready, then you come in loud through the front door. That'll give me the chance to get somewhere where I can protect the hostages and flank these guys."

"Sounds like a plan," Fred agreed, "Just, you know, be careful down there."

"You too," Violet replied, giving Fred a warm smile before vanishing from sight.

Once Violet had left, Fred began pacing back and forth, stretching his muscles as he waited for the agreed amount of time.

"Okay, Fred," he muttered to himself as he continued pacing, "Got to go in loud. You can do this. You can do loud."

As he talked to himself, an idea occurred to Fred. Within the confines of his suit, Fred fished his phone out of his pocket and flipped through it.

"Well, if I'm going to go in loud," Fred said as his phone began to play music, "I might as well go in a loud as possible."

Walking back a few feet from the edge of the roof, Fred readied himself as the music played. Then, after taking a deep breath, Fred rushed towards the edge and leapt off, soaring through the air straight towards the KreiTech's front door.

 _Coming in unannounced,_

"Dynamic Entry!" Fred exclaimed as he slammed into the doors feet first, knocking them off their hinges and sending them clattering to the floor.

 _Drag my nails on the tile,_

As the doors crashed to the ground around him, Fred landed upright, the claws on his feet digging into floor as he skidded to a halt.

 _I just follow your scent,_

"Prepare yourself, evil doers!" Fred loudly declared, a voice modulator built into his suit causing his words to sound low and harsh, "For now you face the wrath of the Kaiju!"

 _You can just follow my smile,_

Immediately, all the gunmen pointed their weapons at Kaiju.

 _Cutting me to the bone,_

"This was your plan, hero?" Yama questioned with a chuckle, keeping his weapon resting against his shoulder, "Burst in here by yourself?"

 _Nothing left to leave behind,_

"Who says I'm by myself?" Kaiju asked in return.

 _You ought to keep me concealed,_

At that moment, Ultraviolet suddenly appeared between the hostages and the two gunmen guarding them. Thrusting her hands out, Ultraviolet conjured a half dome made of translucent purple energy that shot forward and slammed into the gunmen's backs, knocking them off their feet and sending them rolling across the ground.

 _Just like I was a weapon,_

"You boys mind if I cut in?" Ultraviolet questioned with a grin.

 _I didn't come for a fight,_

"Waste her!" Yama shouted as he pointed at Ultraviolet, prompting the gunmen to turn and fire at her.

 _But I will fight to the end,_

Before the gunmen could fire, Ultraviolet quickly formed a large barrier between her and her attackers. Then, as the gunmen opened fire on her, their bullets bounced uselessly off of her barrier, Ultraviolet looking unphased by the gunfire as the hostages cowered behind her.

 _This one might be a battle,_

"Now, that's just rude," Ultraviolet commented with a shake of her head.

 _Might not turn out okay,_

"You guys have to keep your eye on the prize!" Kaiju declared before taking a wide stance, "Fire Breath!"

 _You know you looks so Seattle,_

At his call, a gout of flame shot out of the mouth of Kaiju's suit, creating a line between Ultraviolet and the gunmen.

 _But you feel so LA-a-a-aaaa-aaaa,_

"Get out of here!" Ultraviolet said as she turned to look at the hostages while the gunmen reeled away from the heat of Kaiju's flames. Nodding in understanding, Krei turned to his employees and motioned for them to follow him before leading them towards the exit.

 _And I love the way you hurt me,_

"Stop them!" Yama ordered as he pointed at the fleeing hostages, prompting the gunmen to turn their weapons towards Krei and his employees.

 _It's irresistible!_

Seeing this, Ultraviolet narrowed her eyes and rushed forward. Waving her hand in front of her, Ultraviolet summoned an oblong force disk that floated a foot off the ground in front of her.

 _I love the way,_

Hopping onto it, Ultraviolet glided effortlessly over the ground, quickly positioning herself between the hostages and the gunmen, and conjuring a shield that deflected the bullets they fired at them.

 _I love the way,_

As Ultraviolet held the gunmen at bay, Kaiju, who had taken the time to flank the criminals, sprang into action. Leaping forward, Kaiju slammed a shoulder into one of the gunmen, knocking him off his feet and sending him crashing into one of his comrades, causing them both to fall to the ground.

 _I love the way you hurt me baby!_

"Forget about me?" Kaiju inquired as he spun to face another of the gunmen, "Dropkick!"

 _I love the way,_

Hopping into the air, Kaiju kicked the gunman in the chest with both feet, the blow knocking the man off his feet and sending him flying to the other side of the atrium, where he fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

 _I love the way,_

"Kaiju!" Ultraviolet called before thrusting her hands forward, causing the force field she had created to surge away from her like a wave.

 _I love the way you hurt me baby!_

Reacting to Ultraviolet's call, Kaiju glanced over his shoulder before leaping into the air, avoiding the force field as it slammed into the two gunmen he had knocked down, sending them flying through the air until they slammed against the far wall. Landing next to Ultraviolet, Kaiju watched as the remaining gunmen turned their attentions towards the heroes and prepared to attack again.

 _I'm gonna get you to burst,_

As the gunmen all opened fire on the two heroes, Ultraviolet conjured a force field before them with a wave of her hand.

 _Just like you were a bubble,_

"They never learn," Ultraviolet sighed with a shake of her head. A moment later, the gunfire quieted as the gunmen ran out of ammo.

 _Frame me up on the wall,_

As the gunmen desperately tried to reload their weapons, Ultraviolet dropped her force field, allowing Kaiju to leap forward.

 _Just to keep me out of trouble,_

"Springboard Kick!" Kaiju declared as he planted both feet against the chest of one of the gunmen and jumped off, the force of the move knocking the man off his feet and sent him flying into a wall across the atrium.

 _Like a moth getting trapped,_

"Scissor Kick!" Kaiju shouted as he flipped through the air before raising one leg as high as he could and bringing it down hard on the head of a gunman as he landed neck to him. The blow slammed the gunman face first against the ground, his legs flying up over him before he completely crumpled to the floor.

 _In the light by fixation,_

At that moment, one of the gunmen rushed at Kaiju from behind, his gun raised above his head like a club. Seeing the attack coming, Kaiju nimbly hopped over the gunman's attack, flipping over his head and landing between the gunman and one of his compatriots.

 _Truly free, love it, baby,_

"Split Kick!" Kaiju declared as he hopped into the air again and threw kicks at both men simultaneously. The blows caught both on the jaw and sent them flying in opposite directions.

 _I'm talking no inflation,_

The gunmen flew only a short distance before they slammed into force fields that suddenly sprung up in their paths, causing them to crumble to the ground. Looking over his shoulder, Kaiju saw Ultraviolet standing a short distance away with her hands raised.

 _Too many war wounds and not enough wars,_

At that moment, one of the gunmen ran at Ultraviolet, moving to slam the butt of his gun against the side of her head. Before he could, Ultraviolet dropped her force fields and raised her left arm, forming a shield-like barrier around it as she did. As the gunman's blow bounced harmlessly off her shield, Ultraviolet could only smirk at the gunman's shocked face.

 _Too few rounds in the ring,_

Swinging her arm, Ultraviolet pushed the gunman back a step as she turned to fully face him. Clenching her hands into fists, Ultraviolet formed force spheres around them as she stepped towards the gunman.

 _And not enough settled scores,_

As the gunman recovered his footing, Ultraviolet punched him in the face, the force field around her fist smashing against his nose with a sickening crunch.

 _Too many sharks,_

As he reeled from the blow, Ultraviolet used her other fist to deliver a blow to his knee. _Not enough blood in the waves,_

The gunman let out a cry of pain which was quickly cut off as Ultraviolet buried her fist into his stomach.

 _You give my love a f-f-f-four letter naaame-aaame-aaame._

As the gunman doubled over in pain, Violet delivered an uppercut that snapped him into a standing position before using the force sphere around her hand to lift him into the air. As the gunman hung in the air, Violet slammed her other fist against the gunman's chest, enhancing the blow with her force sphere enough to send him flying across the room before he fell to the ground, unconscious.

 _And I love the way you hurt me,_

Turning her attention back to Kaiju, Ultraviolet found him blatantly staring at him, the room having gone quiet as the gunmen lay about in various levels of consciousness.

"Wow," Kaiju whispered in admiration.

 _It's irresistible!_

"Kaiju, look out!" Ultraviolet suddenly exclaimed before thrusting her hand out.

 _I love the way,_

A moment later, a deafening bang filled the room as something exploded against the force field Ultraviolet had formed behind Kaiju. The force of the blast caused Kaiju to stumble a few paces while Ultraviolet let out a cry of pain and clutched her arm to her chest as her force field vanished, the entire limb feeling like it had just gone numb.

 _I love the way,_

"You know what they say," Yama stated as Kaiju turned to face the large man, the barrel of his lowered gun smoking, "You want something done right, you've got to do it yourself."

 _I love the way you hurt me, baby!_

Cocking the massive weapon, Yama turned it towards Ultraviolet, who had just enough time to slam both of her arm together in front of her and from a force field before he fired. The round exploded against Ultraviolet's force field, the impact knocking her off her feet and sending her rolling across the floor.

 _I love the way,_

"Violet!" Kaiju exclaimed in dismay, looking at where the young woman lay before turning his attention towards Yama, who was now pointing the massive gun at him.

 _I love the way,_

"Any last words, hero?" Yama sneered.

 _I love the way you hurt me, baby!_

"Just two," Kaiju replied as his eyes narrowed behind his mask.

 _You're second hand smoke,_

"Fire Wall!" Kaiju declared before shooting a gout of fire at the floor between him and Yama, creating a barrier of flames.

 _Second hand smoke,_

As Yama reeled from the heat of the flames, Kaiju leapt into the air, passing through the heat and smoke rising from the fire as he fell towards Yama.

 _I breathe you in, honey, but I don't know,_

"Gravity Crush!" Kaiju bellowed as he brought the weight of his entire body down on Yama's head. Grabbing hold of Yama's head, Kaiju used his momentum to swing himself around the larger man.

 _What you're doing to me,_

"Hurricane Slam!" Kaiju shouted as he slammed Yama face first against the ground, causing the large man's mask to snap in half.

 _Mon cheri,_

"How do you like that?" Kaiju yelled as he stood over Yama. Roaring in fury, Yama swept his arm underneath Kaiju's feet, knocking him to the ground.

 _But the truth catches up with us eventually,_

Groaning in pain, it took a moment for Kaiju to get his bearings back, which gave Yama enough time to stand back up and point his gun at the masked hero, blood leaking out of the gash on his face. Kaiju only had enough time to widen his eyes in surprise before Yama pulled the trigger.

 _Try to say live,_

Just as the shot was fired, a small force field orb covered the barrel of the gun, blocking the round and causing it to explode inside the gun. Letting out a cry of surprise and pain, Yama stumbled backwards as he tossed the gun away, the explosion having complete ruptured its barrel.

 _Live and let live,_

A moment later, Ultraviolet suddenly appeared next to Yama, another pair of force spheres surrounding her hands. Stepping forward, Violet struck him twice in the area of his kidneys.

 _But I'm no good, good at lip service,_

Roaring in anger, Yama swung a backhand at Ultraviolet, but she blocked the attack with a small force field that she conjured in his arm's path. She then followed this up by slamming a separate force field against Yama's shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain.

 _Except when they're yours,_

As Yama reeled from the blow, Ultraviolet stepped forward and slammed her hand against the floor, causing a force field column to spring up from under him, knocking the large man into the air.

 _Mi amor,_

"Kaiju!" Ultraviolet called as she looked back at the young man, who had stood back up. Hearing Ultraviolet's call, Kaiju quickly rushed forward.

 _I'm coming for you,_

Leaping up, Kaiju dropkicked Yama in the chest as he fell back towards Earth, sending him flying across the room.

 _And I'm making war!_

As Yama fell hard on the ground, Kaiju landed on both feet before quickly rolling onto his back.

 _And I still love the way you hurt me,_

"Follow me up!" Kaiju called as he held his feet up, prompting Ultraviolet to run over to him. Leaping up, Ultraviolet managed to plant her feet against Kaiju's grinning brilliantly down at him as she readied herself to be thrown into the air.

 _It's irresistible!_

"Alleyoop!" Kaiju exclaimed as he pushed up with his legs, the springs in his feet sending Ultraviolet flying through the air towards Yama.

 _I love the way,_

As Yama picked himself up, he managed to shake his head clear in time to see Ultraviolet flying at him.

 _I love the way_ ,

Forming a force field in front of her, Ultraviolet slammed into Yama, the blow knocking him clear off his feet and sending him slamming him into the frame of the front door, the wood cracking against the force of the blow.

 _I love the way you hurt me, baby!_

Landing in a roll, Ultraviolet formed a funnel-shaped force field near where Kaiju was now standing, with the wide end facing him.

 _I love the way,_

"Let's finish this!" Ultraviolet exclaimed as she concentrated on holding the force field.

 _I love the way,_

"Alright! Fire Breath!" Kaiju exclaimed before shooting a tongue of flame down the funnel., "Funnel Fire Blast!"

 _I love the way you hurt me, baby!_

As Yama picked himself up again, he had just enough time to look at the blast of fire, concentrated by the funnel, shooting towards him. The force and heat of the fire slammed into his chest and knocked Yama off his feet once more, knocking him through the open front doors. Yama continued flying through the air until her crashed into the side of one of the police cruisers parked outside, his bulk badly denting the door and shattering the windows.

There was a moment of silence as the gathered police officers, news reporters and onlookers looked at Yama's unconscious form in shock. After the moment had passed, they raised their gazes to the building's ruined front entrance, where Kaiju and Ultraviolet now stood side by side.

"So," Violet said as she caught her breath, "How was that for your first team-up?"

"Could have been better," Fred replied, prompting Violet to laugh and playfully punch him in the shoulder.

"Hey look," Fred said as he pointed at something. Looking in the direction Fred indicated, Violet saw the van floating in the air above them.

"Well, looks like your friends got here," Violet commented as she began waving at them, "I guess I'll have to introduce myself….again."

"Eh," Fred replied with a shrug, "I'm sure they'll take it well."

A/N: So this was a fun, action packed chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also, in case anyone was wondering, the song from the chapter was "Irresistible" by Fall Out Boy and Demi Lovato. As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	9. Aftermath

**Chapter 9: Aftermath**

"I can't believe you gave up our secret identities!" Go Go exclaimed as she glared daggers at Fred.

Together, the Big Hero 9, minus Hiro and Baymax, were riding in Wasabi's van along with Violet. Tip piloted the van as usual, with Oh in the seat next to her. Wasabi, Honey and Riley sat in the second row, while Violet was awkwardly squeezed between Fred and Go Go in the third.

"Look, it's not a big deal!" Fred argued, the headpiece of his costume resting in his lap, "She's a superhero too!"

"That's not the point, Fred," Wasabi replied with an exasperated tone, "You didn't know that when you told her."

"Look, I was with her when you guys called me," Fred stated with an annoyed tone, "You know how crappy a liar I am. I don't know what else you expected me to do!"

"I'd expect you not to give up your friends' secrets just because you have a crush on a girl!" Go Go snapped back.

At that, Fred and Go Go looked away from each other, Fred angrily pouting at his feet while Go Go glared at the wall, her head propped up by her hand as her arm lay on the back of her seat. An awkward moment passed as nobody spoke.

" _This is going well_ ," Disgust commented sarcastically.

"So, I uh, hate awkward silences, so I'm just gonna, uh, reintroduce myself to all of you," Violet spoke up as she took off her domino mask before giving everyone a nervous smile, "Hi, I'm Ultraviolet, and I'm a superhero."

This seemed to cut the tension and everyone chuckled slightly at her words.

"Hi, Ultraviolet," the humans all said in unison.

"Oh, uh, hellos," Oh said with a hint of confusion.

"So, I think I know who everyone is, but if you wouldn't mind reintroducing yourselves as well?" Violet requested.

"Torque," Go Go said with a small, reluctant smile.

"Miss Chemistry," Honey stated with a wave.

"Laserblade," Wasabi provided with a nod.

"Kitsune," Riley said with a broad smile.

"The Driver," Tip answered with a lazy wave.

"And I am being knowns as the Strange Visitor!" Oh announced.

"And you're actually an alien?" Violet questioned as she pointed at Oh.

"Yes, I am being of the Boov," Oh replied with a broad grin.

"Very cool," Violet stated, "So, I'm guessing the two flying outside are Excelsior and the Big Guy."

"That's right," Honey confirmed with a nod.

"So, all of you use tech?" Violet questioned, "None of you are supers?"

"I am," Riley spoke up with an excited smile.

" _This is our chance to shine!_ " Joy exclaimed excitedly.

"You are?" Violet questioned in confusion, "But I thought you used all those little robots?"

"Yeah, they were invented by Hiro," Riley explained, "But I can do other stuff too."

"Like what?" Violet inquired as she leaned forward with interest.

In response, Riley remained quiet as she held Violet's gaze.

" _Okay, Sadness, go!_ " Joy whispered.

As Violet looked at Riley, tears suddenly began to well up in her eyes. Sniffing, she leaned back and wiped them away.

"I-I'm sorry," Violet sniffled, "I d-don't know what just came over me."

" _Anger!"_ Joy said.

"So why don't you all just stop looking at me!" Violet suddenly exclaimed, as she ran her hands through her hair in frustration, inadvertently pulling it out of the ponytail she had it in. Everyone leaned away from Violet in surprise at the outburst, except for Riley, who continued to stare at the young woman.

" _Fear!_ " Joy ordered.

All at once, Violet's anger left her and she seemed to shrink in on herself, her loose hair curtaining around her face as she looked around with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry," Violet whispered, "I shouldn't….I mean…."

Instead of finishing her sentence, Violet suddenly vanished from view, though the seatbelt wrapped around her waist marked where she still was.

"Alright Fargo," Go Go spoke up, "I think that's enough of a demonstration."

At that, Riley closed her eyes and let out a long, slow breath as she disconnected the empathetic link she had formed with Violet. A moment later, Violet reappeared, brushing her hair out of her face as she looked at Riley in amazement.

"Was that you?" Violet questioned.

" _You know it, sister!_ " Anger exclaimed with a laugh.

Riley merely nodded in confirmation.

"Wow, so, are you psychic or something?" Violet asked as she pulled a headband out of her jacket's pocket and put it in her hair to keep it out of her face.

"Empathetic," Riley clarified.

"What's that?" Violet inquired with a furrowed brow.

"It means I can sense and manipulate other people's emotions," Riley explained.

"That's pretty cool," Violet replied with an impressed expression, "A little scary, but also cool."

"It can be, though it feels like I have a lot of annoying voices in my head sometimes," Riley said with a straight face.

" _Hey!_ " Anger snapped, causing Riley to smirk.

"So, what's the plan now?" Violet inquired as she leaned back in her seat and looked at the others.

"Now we take you to our secret base, I guess," Wasabi answered with a shrug.

"Secret base?" Violet parroted with a quirked eyebrow, "You guys have a secret base?"

"Yeah, it's under Fred's house," Riley said nonchalantly.

At this, Violet turned her questioning gaze towards Fred, who looked away while scratching the back of his head.

"We're here!" Tip announced as the van began to lower towards the ground.

Looking out the window, Violet's eyes widened in surprise as she saw the large mansion outside, before widening even further as the helipad beneath them opened up, revealing the shaft leading beneath the mansion.

A few moments later, the van landed at the bottom of the shaft and the occupants quickly exited, with Baymax and Hiro landing besides them. As everyone made their way towards the door leading out of the shaft, Violet trailed behind, looking around with an expression of surprise on her face.

"Mineral water, miss?" Heathcliff asked, bringing Violet's attention to him.

"Uh….sure, thanks," Violet replied, taking one of the offered water bottles as she looked at the butler with a baffled expression.

"And for you, Master Frederick?" Heathcliff inquired as he turned his attention towards Fred, holding the tray of water bottles out to him.

"Uh, no thanks, Heathcliff," Fred replied as he waved the butler off.

Heathcliff nodded in reply, before turning away and heading in the direction the others had gone in. Violet watched him leave before turning her attention towards Fred.

"So, that's your…." Violet began to say, her voice trailing off awkwardly.

"Butler, yeah," Fred confirmed with a nod, his expression embarrassed.

"So are you like….rich?" Violet inquired, her brow furrowed.

"A little bit," Fred replied, raising his hand with his finger and thumb held close together for emphasis.

"Were you trying to hide that?" Violet asked.

"Sort of," Fred answered with a shrug.

"Why?" Violet inquired as her eyes narrowed, "Did you think I was some kind of gold digger or something?"

"What!?" Fred replied in shock before quickly waving his hands in front of him, "No no no no, nothing like that. I mean, not really."

"Then what did you mean?" Violet inquired as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"All I'm trying to say is people treat you differently when they know you're rich," Fred explained, "Money can make people do weird things."

"You sound like you're talking from experience," Violet observed.

"Well, as you can imagine, I went to some pretty preppy schools growing up," Fred explained with a pensive look on his face, "For a long time, I thought I had friends there, had girls who I thought liked me, but all they really wanted is what they thought I could do for them. What they thought my dad could do for them, really."

"That sounds pretty lonely," Violet observed, her expression becoming sympathetic.

"It was," Fred agreed with a nod, "I didn't really have any real friends until I started hanging around SFIT."

"Did you hide it from them too?" Violet inquired, nodding towards where the rest of the Big Hero 9 had gone.

"For awhile, yeah," Fred admitted with a nod, "It wasn't until after I knew that they liked me for who I am that I let them know. Even then, it took awhile."

Letting out a sigh, Violet placed her hands on her hips.

"Look, I get where you're coming from," Violet said, "I know what it's like to keep something from someone because you're worried about how they'll perceive you. I also know what it's like to have someone you care about not like you for being you."

"What do you mean?" Fred questioned, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"Let's just say that my high school boyfriend wasn't a big fan of the whole superhero thing," Violet replied, looking uncomfortable as she turned her gaze away from Fred, "Or the whole super thing."

"Oh, wow," Fred said in surprise, "I'm….I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine," Violet replied with a wave of her hand as she looked back at Fred, "I'm sorry for getting defensive before."

"It's alright," Fred stated with a shrug.

"So, this has been a pretty revealing day," Violet commented with a chuckle, "Anything else I should know about you?"

"Well, there is one thing," Fred replied with a knowing smirk, "But it might be better if I show you."

Violet raised an eyebrow at Fred as he walked past her, but followed along as he went into the next room.

Entering the room, Violet looked around in amazement as Fred joined his friends at the central table.

"Nice hideout, guys," she complimented as she continued to look around.

"Thanks," Stan said as he walked up toward Violet, bringing her attention to him, "It cost a pretty penny to keep all the contractors quiet, but I think it was worth it."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Violet said as she turned towards Stan, "I don't think we've been introduced."

"No, I don't believe we have," Stan replied as he held out his hand, "Stanley Lieber."

"Violet Parr," she replied as she moved to shake Stan's hand before hissing in pain.

"Is something wrong?" Stan questioned, lowering his hand as Violet pulled her arm back to her, a pained expression on her face.

"It's fine," Violet replied with an apologetic smile as she lowered her arm, "Just feeling a little beat up after that hostage situation."

"Hmm, I think I know just the thing for that," Stan commented before turning towards his butler, "Heathcliff, can you go get the missus for me?"

"Of course, sir," Heathcliff replied with a nod before he made his way over to the elevator.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Violet tried to argue as Heathcliff entered the elevator.

"Nonsense," Stan said, waving off her argument with his hand, "You're a guest in my house, and you'll be treated as such."

"Thank you, sir," Violet replied with a small smile.

"So, you said your last name was Parr, huh?" Stan questioned with a chuckle, "That's a name I haven't heard in a long time. How are your parents?"

"They're good," Violet answered as she gave Stan a befuddled smile, "How do you know them?"

"Ah, knowing Bob and Helen, they were good about not using my real name, which is probably why you don't recognize it," Stan surmised, smiling as he adjusted his glasses, "Tell me, does the name Excelsior ring any bells?"

"Wait, you're Excelsior? The original Excelsior?" Violet questioned, an astonished look on his face, "My dad used to say he always thought you were a little bit crazy for being a superhero without any superpowers."

"That sounds like Bob, alright," Stan commented with a chuckle, "Though I'd argue that everyone in our line of work is a little bit crazy. You'd have to be to do what we used to do."

"I guess so," Violet agreed with an amazed shake of her head as she turned to look at Fred, "Any other surprises you got for me?"

"Hey, in my defense, I didn't know about this until a couple of months ago," Fred argued, holding his hands up defensively.

"I should have known that he would find a way into the business, whether I wanted him to or not," Stan commented with a chuckle.

"Well, that's a trait you both share," a new voice chided, "Always having to stick your neck out for other people, heedless of the consequences."

Turning towards where the voice had come from, everyone watched as a woman stepped off the elevator, followed by Heathcliff. She was a middle aged woman, with dark blue eyes, Caucasian features, auburn hair and a slim build. She wore a simple but stylish looking blue dress and black, high-heeled shoes.

"Ah, there you are, sweetheart," Stan commented as he smiled broadly at the woman.

"Here I am," the woman replied with a smile of her own, "But why am I here? Heathcliff made it sound like it was important."

"Well, Fred brought a new friend of his back from one of his outings," Stan explained as he gestured toward Violet, "Seems as though she might have hurt herself."

"It's really nothing," Violet argued as she tried to wave Stan's worries off, before hissing in pain and pulling her arm back to her chest.

"That doesn't sound like nothing," the woman observed with a serious tone as she made her way over to Violet, "Let me see your arm."

"I don't know if-" Violet began to say.

"I'm not sure what you know, young lady, but what I will tell you is that I'm not some pampered trophy wife. I'm a doctor," the woman cut her off, her tone brokering no argument, "A doctor with a lot of experience dealing with injuries like this."

"It's true," Stan confirmed, "I can't tell you how many times she stitched me back together."

"Sorry," Violet said as she gave the woman an apologetic smile.

"Don't worry about it, dear," the woman said with a dismissive wave, "Now, why don't you get those gloves and coat off so I can get a look at your arms? My name is Joan, by the way. Dr. Joan Lieber."

"Violet Parr," Violet replied as she slipped off her coat and began pulling off her long, black gloves.

"Parr, huh?" Joan questioned as she gently took one of Violet's now bare arms and began examining it, "You wouldn't happen to be related to Bob and Helen Parr, would you?"

"They're my parents," Violet answered, cringing in pain slightly as Joan examined her arms.

"Ah, I thought as much," Joan said with a smile as she began examining Violet's other arm, "How are they?"

"As good as can be expected," Violet replied with a small shrug.

"That's good to hear," Joan stated as she turned her attention towards Baymax, who had shed his armor and was standing nearby, "Baymax? Can you be a dear and get me a pair of compression sleeves?"

"Yes, Doctor," Baymax replied with a nod before he made his way over to a cabinet sitting against a wall. Rummaging through it, Baymax pulled out a pair of bundles which he brought over and handed to Joan.

"Thank you, Baymax," Joan said as she took the bundles, "I swear, you're the best nurse I've ever worked with."

"Thank you, Doctor," Baymax stated with a nod.

"You know, as much as I think there should be at least one of him in every hospital," Joan said conspiratorially as she unfurled the bundles, revealing them to be elbow-length, fingerless navy blue gloves with small electronic screens built into the back of the hands, "Part of me wants to steal him and keep him all to myself. Hold your arms out for me, dear."

Violet chuckled as she did as she was asked, allowing Joan to gently roll the gloves down each of her arms.

"Now, I believe you have some minute stress fractures in both of your arms," Joan explained as she finished putting the sleeves in place, "Nothing terrible to worry about, but you should wear these compression sleeves for a few days to keep them from getting worse."

As she finished putting the sleeves on, Joan touched one of the screens and selected one of the options that popped up, causing the sleeves to constrict on Violet's arm until they were tight and somewhat uncomfortable, but not causing her any pain.

"I'd tell you to not put any more stress on them for the next couple of days but I know how your kind can be," Joan commented with a roll of her eyes as Violet flexed her hands experimentally, "What happened anyway?"

"There was a hostage situation at KreiTech, Mom!" Fred called, "We kicked butt but one guy did get the drop on us with some kind of grenade launcher."

"A grenade launcher?" Joan repeated as she looked at her son in shock before she turned her attention towards Violet, "I'm surprised you're not more injured."

"I can be pretty hard to hurt, thanks to these," Violet explained as she held up her palm and formed a small force sphere, "But if they get hit with something hard enough, it can feedback on to me."

"Fascinating," Joan observed, "Tell me, when-"

"Mom!" Fred groaned, "We're trying to have a team meeting here!"

"Fine, fine," Joan replied as she held up her hands, "You're the one who called me to look after your nice, young lady friend here, remember?"

Fred rolled his eyes as his friends smiled and snickered.

"We'll have to continue this another time, Violet," Joan said to the young woman before she headed towards the elevator, giving Stan a kiss on the cheek as she passed him.

"Come on over, Violet," Fred said as he pushed the empty seat next to him away from the table, "We've got an empty seat for you here and everything."

"Alright, I'm coming," Violet said with a chuckle as she walked over and sat in the offered chair, "So, what is this. Some kind of debriefing?"

"Something like that," Wasabi confirmed with a nod, "I, for one, would like to know what happened tonight."

"Well, it's like we talked about earlier," Fred replied with a shrug, "A bunch of guys took people hostage at KreiTech."

"Did you find out why?" Honey questioned.

"I presume they were hoping to ransom the hostages, especially Krei," Violet answered, "They might have been looking for some tech to steal, but I didn't see any evidence of that."

"But they never made any demands to the police," Go Go observed, a pensive expression on her face, "Seems weird to me."

"It gets weirder," Hiro said, looking at his phone as he spoke, "Check this out."

Turning towards the large screens mounted on the wall, Hiro held up his phone before flicking his finger it towards the screens. A moment later, one of the screens displayed a photograph depicting Yama being arrested by the police.

"Wait, I know that guy," Riley stated in surprise, "Isn't that the guy you were hustling the night we met?"

"Yeah, Yama was his name," Hiro confirmed, "Seems like he was trying to move up in the world."

"Wait, I remember Tadashi telling us about this," Fred said with a laugh, "Didn't he have to save your butts from this guy?"

"Who's Tadashi?" Violet questioned.

A hush quickly fell over the room as Fred stopped laughing and the group turned their collective attention towards Violet.

"Tadashi's….my brother," Hiro explained awkwardly, "He's the one who actually built Baymax."

"Oh wow," Violet said in amazement as she looked over at Baymax, "I can see this sort of thing runs in your family. I'd love to get the chance to meet him."

"That will not be possible," Baymax stated plainly as everyone else looked pained.

"Why not?" Violet questioned in confusion.

"Because….a few months ago….Tadashi died," Riley explained gently.

"Murdered," Hiro quickly corrected, "My brother was murdered."

As she digested this information, all the blood seemed to drain from Violet's face.

"Oh my God," Violet whispered in a panic, "O-Oh my God, I am so, so sorry. I didn't realize-"

"There was no way you could have known," Hiro cut her off with a dismissive wave of his hand, "It's not your fault."

"Still, I'm so sorry for your loss, Hiro," Violet said, giving the boy a heartfelt look, "Did...Did they ever catch the person who did it? Did you?"

"Yeah, we got him," Hiro confirmed with a nod, a hard look on his face, "He's exactly where he belongs."

 _Meanwhile_ ,

The visiting area in the San Fransokyo County Jail was as busy as it ever was, with half a dozen or so people making use of the tables lined up in a row at the center of the room, divided by plexiglass windows. One side of the room was occupied by men dressed in orange jumpsuits, while people in plainclothes were on the other, each side observed by men dressed in correction officer uniforms.

Near the center of the room, a middle-aged man sat across from a young woman. The man had Caucasian features, blue eyes and short, salt-and-pepper hair and was dressed in a orange uniform with white sneakers. The woman had similar features, with matching blue eyes and brown hair that she had pulled back into a small ponytail. She wore a black jacket over a grey sweatshirt and blue jeans with black flats on her feet.

"I-I don't think I can do this anymore, Dad," the young woman said into the corded phone she had held up to her ear, a pained expression on her face as she looked down at the table in front of her.

"What do you mean, Abigail?" the man questioned, a look of confusion on his face.

"I mean, I don't think I can keep coming here," the woman, Abigail, explained, "My psychiatrist….she says it's not good for me."

"What are you talking about?" the man asked, still perplexed.

"What I'm talking about…." Abigail began to say before pausing as her breath caught in her throat, "What I'm talking about is the fact that every time I see you, when I go to bed that night, I see his face."

"Who's face?" the man inquired.

"Tadashi Hamada's!" Abigail snapped as she raised her gaze to glare at her father, "The man you murdered, Dad!"

Callaghan said nothing, having been shocked into silence.

"Did you remember introducing us, Dad?" Abigail practically spat, "When I visited you during one of your lectures. You said he was your star pupil!"

Abigail angrily slapped the desk in front of her, catching the attention of everyone else in the room.

"Your star pupil!" Abigail screamed, "And you killed him!"

"I didn't intend for Tadashi to die!" the man argued, a desperate look in his eye, "I did it to save you!"

"Don't you dare put what you did on me!" Abigail roared, shooting out of her chair so fast it toppled over behind her, "Don't you dare try to put that on my conscious! I knew what I was signing up for when I agreed to do the test! I knew the risks! I'm a full grown woman! I didn't need Daddy to come and rescue me!"

"Abby, I-I was just trying to-" the man tried to say but Abigail cut him off.

"I don't care what you were trying to do, Dad," Abigail snarled, angry tears running down her face, "All I care is what you did. You were Robert Callaghan, the Father of Modern Robotics. Now look at you. You threw it all away, and for what? For me? You just lost me anyway. All you gained was the blood on your hands."

With that, Abigail hung up the phone and hurried out of the room, ignoring her father's cries to come back as she wept.

The man, Callaghan, looked towards the door his daughter had left through forlornly before slumping in his chair. As he sat, staring at the ground, he barely notice one of the guards come up behind him.

"You know what they say, Yokai," the guard mused, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

"Don't call me that," Callaghan snarled, his lost look turning into a glare.

"I'll call you whatever I damn well please, inmate," the guard countered as he placed his hands on his hips, "Now, on your feet. Visiting hours are over."

Still fuming, Callaghan rose to his feet and made his way out of the room, the guard following behind him.

Opening the door, Callaghan stepped into the bare, grey, cement hallway beyond and turned sharply to the right, walking directly into a larger man who had been walking down the hall.

"Whoa, easy there, pal," Yama said as he looked down at Callaghan, now dressed in a prison uniform, fresh bruises covering his face, "Where's the fire?"

"Sorry," Callaghan apologized as he caught himself, "I was just…."

"Don't worry about it," Yama replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"You going to make your phone call or not?" the guard following behind Yama questioned.

"Sorry, sorry," Yama apologized before moving past Callaghan and giving him a small wave, "See you around, pal."

As one of the guards led Callaghan past Yama, the large man spared him a glance before turning his attention towards the corded payphones that hung from the walls near the door to the visiting area. Picking up the earpiece, Yama glanced at the other guard, who was standing a respectful distance away, before punching in a number.

"Thank you for calling Salsa and Salsa," a perky, female voice said after a single ring, "How may I direct your call?"

"This is Yama," the large man said simply.

"Hold please," the female voice replied, followed by a clicking noise.

"Report," Enigma's electronic voice ordered from the phone a moment later.

"I'm in," Yama answered, "Everything went according to plan."

"Have you located the professor?" Enigma inquired.

"Yeah, I bumped into him already," Yama responded with a chuckle.

"Good," Enigma stated, "Keep your head low until you get our signal. You remember what to do?"

"Yeah," Yama answered with a predatory grin, "I'm looking forward to it."

A/N: Simple but fun chapter. Hope you guys liked all the character interactions in this one. As always, feedback and critiques as always welcome, so please review! Later!


	10. Birds of a Feather

**Chapter 10: Birds of a Feather**

The moon hung heavy in the sky above San Fransokyo as the group, sans Oh and dressed in their civilian clothes, made their way across the campus of SFIT.

"Well, I've got to say, I wasn't expecting this was the way my night was going to go," Violet commented with a smile before examining one of her arms, using the other to hold her skateboard, "I could have gone without the injuries though."

"As long as you follow Dr. Lieber's instructions, your injuries should heal in a short time," Baymax instructed.

"I'll keep that in mind," Violet said with a chuckle before she turned to face the others, "And thanks for, you know, reading me in on everything tonight. I know it's not how you all would have wanted to do it, but I appreciate you guys trusting me. Try not to be too mad at Fred about it?"

"It's no problem," Go Go replied with a shrug, "I'm sure I'll find a reason to be pissed off at him again soon enough."

"Hey," Fred complained, causing the others to laugh.

"I have to ask though," Hiro spoke up, "The way he told the story, Fred made is sound like you had been looking into us. That you were trying to figure out if we were the Big Hero 9."

"Well, that's because I sort of was," Violet admitted awkwardly.

"Wait what?" Wasabi questioned as he blinked in surprise.

"Why?" Riley inquired.

"I was asked to look into who the Big Hero 9 by a certain government agency," Violet replied as she awkwardly scratched the back of her head.

" _Oh no_ ," Fear whispered.

"The AVL wanted you to look into us?" Honey asked in shock.

"Oh man, we're totally getting arrested," Wasabi groaned as he ran a hand over his face.

"Nobody's getting arrested," Violet assured them as she waved her hands in front of her, "I can't really go into why the AVL wanted me to look into you guys, but I promise that it's good news."

"You can't tell us anything more?" Tip questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Not really," Violet replied, shaking her head as she gave the group an apologetic look.

"Well, that's mysterious and slightly ominous," Fred commented before shrugging, "But I'll take it over getting arrested."

"Anyway, we should probably get going," Hiro said, "I think crime fighting has taken up enough of our night already."

"Yeah," Tip agreed with a sigh, "Some of us have a math test tomorrow."

At that, Riley groaned and put her face in her hands.

"I've got to get some homework done myself before I pass out," Violet stated with sigh, "So, I should probably get back to my dorm."

"I'll walk you there!" Fred offered quickly, before pausing awkwardly as everyone turned their attentions towards him, "If you, uh, don't mind, that is."

"No, Fred, I don't mind," Violet replied, giggling as she shook her head, "I think that sounds pretty great actually."

"Hey Violet, before you go, are you around this weekend?" Go Go questioned with a pensive expression.

"Yeah, I think so," Violet replied as she quirked an eyebrow at Go Go, "Why?"

"Because, I'm taking this one out for a girl's night," Go Go said as she stepped next to Honey and wrapped her arm around the taller woman's hip, "And I was wondering if you wanted to join us."

"Go Go, I'm really not sure I have the time…." Honey began to argue half-heartedly.

"You're making the time," Go Go stated sharply as she gave Honey a hard look, "This whole thing of running yourself ragged has gone on long enough. I'm drawing a line in the sand. We're going out this weekend."

Honey looked down at Go Go for a moment before whatever resistance she had flowed out her face and shoulders and she smiled wanly at her friend.

"Alright, Yuri," Honey agreed as she wrapped her arm around the shorter girl's shoulders in a one arm hug, "I think a night out sounds pretty great."

"Awesome," Go Go replied as she pulled away from Honey before she turned to look at Violet and pointed a finger at the younger woman, "So, you in, Freshman?"

"After watching that, I feel like I don't have much of a choice," Violet answered with a laugh, "Yeah, I'm down."

"Good," Go Go stated with a smirk, "I'll send you the details about it later."

"Actually, would it be cool if I invited this friend of mine to come with us?" Violet asked with a pensive expression, "She's from Modesto, and she said it's been ages since she's gotten to come here."

"Sure," Go Go answered with a shrug, "The more the merrier."

"Awesome," Violet said with a grin before she began to back away from the group, "Anyway, I really do need to get back to my room so I can get some homework done."

"No problem," Wasabi replied with a shake of his head.

"We'll see you later, Violet!" Riley called as she waved at the young woman, earning a wave in reply.

"I'll catch you guys later too," Fred said as he followed Violet away from the group.

"Now, you treat that nice girl with respect, young man," Go Go said, smirking as she pointed a finger at Fred.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Wasabi called after him with a facetious grin.

"Make good choices!" Honey declared with a motherly tone and a beaming smile.

"Man, you guys are the worst," Fred groaned as Violet stifled a laugh with her hand.

Then, with a final wave, the group turned away from the direction Fred and Violet were headed in and began making their way across campus.

"You know, for someone who was sent by a secret government agency to spy on us, I'm really starting to like Violet," Hiro commented with a smile, earning chuckles from his friends.

 _Later_ ,

As they walked through the concrete corridors of her dorm, an awkward silence had fallen between Violet and Fred. Reaching one of the doors, Violet paused in front of it, prompting Fred to stop as well.

"Well….this is me," Violet said, indicating towards the door with her head.

"Right," Fred awkwardly as he nervously scratched the back of his head, "I guess this is the part where I wish you good night."

"I suppose so," Violet replied as she rubbed her arm with her hand and looked away from Fred, "Can I ask you a question? One that has the potential to make me seem a little….nuts?"

"Go for it," Fred answered with a encouraging grin.

"Would it be weird if I said I had fun tonight?" Violet asked as she turned her gaze back towards Fred, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth, "I mean it involved a hostage situation where we got shot at."

"I know, right?" Fred confirmed with a chuckle, "But no, I don't think you're weird. I had a great time too. I always do when I'm, you know, superheroing."

"But that's weird, isn't it?" Violet asked with an incredulous smile as she leaned back against her room's door frame, "People shouldn't enjoy throwing themselves into danger like that."

"We're not like most people," Fred argued with a shrug, "Especially me and you, given our families."

"I guess," Violet chuckled as she folded her arms, "I do have to say, as far as first dates go, this has been one of the best I've been on."

"Wait," Fred said, blinking in confusion, "Did you….Did you just say first date?"

At that, Violet averted her eyes again, her face turning red as she allowed her hair to conceal part of her face.

"Look, from what I've learned from my parents, people like us kind of have to take these things where we can get them," Violet explained quietly, "My mom and dad were fighting crime the day they were married. They said that they consider their first date to be when they teamed up against-"

"Bomb Voyage!" Fred answered, earning a bemused smile from Violet, "Sorry, but I am a bit of a nerd."

"I gathered," Violet chuckled, "But you get what I mean, right?"

"I suppose," Fred replied as he scratched the back of his head, "Though I thought we were still doing the whole "getting to know you" thing?"

"Fred, we literally shared our biggest secrets with each other tonight," Violet pointed out, "If that's not enough to garner a date, I don't know what is."

"O-Okay," Fred stated nervously, "It was a date then. A good one even!"

"Yeah," Violet giggled, her cheeks having taken on a firmly rosy hue.

"So, you down for a second date?" Fred inquired, "Dinner, movie, maybe beat up some muggers in an alley if we can find the time?"

"Hmmm, I'll have to think about it," Violet replied playfully, feigning a thoughtful expression as she tapped her chin with her finger, "But I'd say your odds are pretty good."

"I'll take whatever odds you give me," Fred said with a charming smile, "Luck's been in my favor lately. After all, I just went on a date with a superhero who also happens to be a very pretty girl."

"Thank you," Violet replied with a laugh and a roll of her eyes, though Fred noticed her face was almost completely red now, "Though you're really pushing your luck now."

"Just telling the truth," Fred said with a shrug, a blush on his cheeks as well.

"Well, anyway, I really do need to get some work done tonight," Violet stated half-heartedly, "I'll see you later?"

"Absolutely," Fred answered with a wide grin.

"Good night, Fred," Violet said as she smiled at him.

"Good ni-" Fred started to answer, but was interrupted as Violet leaned forward and pressed her lips to his cheek. His eyes going wide as his voice died in his throat, Fred could only stare at Violet as she pulled back, and winked at him before stepping into her room and closing the door behind her.

For a few moments, Fred could do nothing but stand and stare at the wooden door before him. Then, blinking slowly, Fred raised his hand and touched the spot on his cheek where Violet had kissed him. As he touched it, a megawatt grin formed on Fred's face. Turning from Violet's door, Fred began walking back the way he came, whistling happily to himself and clicking his heels together as he rounded a corner.

As the same time, in her room, Violet giggled as she flopped backwards onto her bed. Alone in her dorm room, Violet lay on her bed, grinning up at the ceiling as she went over the day's events in her head. Fishing her hand into the pocket of her jeans, Violet pulled out her cellphone and quickly called one of her contacts.

"Hey Mom," Violet said as she held the phone up to her ear, "Can you talk?"

Pausing, a confused look formed on Violet's features.

"Are you busy?" Violet inquired, "It's kind of loud where you are."

 _Meanwhile_ ,

"No, honey, I can talk," Helen replied as she sat on a metal bench along a similarly metal wall, "Your father is just having a bit of a work out session right now."

Letting out a grunt of pain, Bob flew a short distance through the air before landing on the blue, padded floor and rolling to a stop. Picking himself up, Bob, dressed in an old grey United States Army t-shirt, navy blue basketball shorts, and a pair of red, padded gloves, glanced around in order to regain his bearings.

The room he was in was a massive one, with a ceiling nearly sixty feet tall, and a matching length and width. The walls, floor and ceiling were covered with uniformly square metal plates that were gunmetal grey in color, with bright fluorescent lights shining down from above.

Currently, a large section of the floor near the center of the room was a foot lower than the rest and the metal panels had been replaced with blue padding. Standing near one of the ends of the section, roughly twenty feet away from Bob, was Susan, shrunk down to human size and dressed in a black tank top with orange along with side and matching yoga pants along with gloves similar to Bob's own. She currently had her white hair pulled back into a ponytail and a wide grin on her face.

"How was that?" Susan asked as she bounced excitedly on her stocking feet, hands raised in the semblance of a boxing pose.

"Not bad," Bob replied with a good hearted chuckle, rolling his right shoulder as he got his own sock clad feet under him, "You pack more of a wallop than I was expecting."

"It's because I'm just as strong as I am when I'm big," Susan explained with a shrug.

"How's that work?" Bob inquired with a quirked eyebrow.

"Basically, Doc wasn't able to get rid of all the extra mass I gained when I became Ginormica," Susan explained as she pointed to the device on her wrist, "So he made this to basically contract the space between my molecules instead. Which means that when I'm smaller, I'm denser too."

"Pretty cool," Bob commented with a nod of understanding.

"Eh," Susan replied with a shrug and a so-so motion of her hand, "It's nice being able to be just under five feet again instead of having to be just under fifty all the time, but it means if I want to sit in a chair or sleep on a bed, it has to be reinforced to hold my weight. And don't even get me started on wearing heels."

"That sound rough," Bob said with a sympathetic nod, "But being that strong at this size does have its advantages. I'm guessing that being that dense also makes you pretty tough too, huh?"

"I'm pretty much bulletproof," Susan confirmed with a nod before a thoughtful expression crossed her face, "What does it feel like when you get shot, by the way? For me, it's this weird tickling sensation."

"It kind of itches for me," Bob answered with a smirk, "Anyway, seeing as you have pretty much the same powers as I do, I think I might be able to teach you a thing or two."

"You know I'm not exactly new to this whole superhero thing, right?" Susan questioned with a quirked eyebrow, "I'm betting I know more than you think."

"Alright," Bob replied with a smirk as he lifted his hands up in a boxing pose, "Show me."

Grinning, Susan balled her hands into fists and rushed at Bob. As Susan ran at him, Bob bent his knees to lower his center of gravity, never taking his eyes off her. Reaching Bob, Susan threw a punch at the man's head, but he easily ducked the attack, crouching low and throwing his shoulder into her stomach. As Susan let out a cough of surprise, she was unable to stop Bob as he lifted her off her feet and tossed her over his shoulder. Susan spent the next dizzying moment flipping end over end before landing hard on her back, choking in pain as the wind was knocked out of her lungs.

"You we're right," Bob said as he turned to look at Susan, who lay on the floor, fighting to catch her breath, "That whole density thing does make you pretty heavy. Doubt someone without super strength could have pulled that off."

Susan glared at Bob as he looked at him upside down, gulping down lungfuls of air.

"Look, having similar powers means I know what it was like being the one who had strength that no one else could match," Bob went on as he walked around Susan so she could look at him rightside up, "The problem is that eventually, you do run into someone who's as strong as you, and when that happens, you need to know how to fight with your head."

"Okay," Susan coughed, before taking Bob's hand as he offered to help her back to her feet, "So maybe I can learn a thing or two from you."

"I'm sure there's some tricks you can teach me too," Bob replied as he pulled Susan back to her feet.

"Yeah, probably," Susan replied with an enigmatic smile. Then, grabbing Bob's arm with both hands, Susan dropped onto her back. Caught off guard by the move, Bob was pulled forward as Susan planted her feet against his chest, bending her legs against his weight. Then, as she continued to roll backwards, Susan released her hold on Bob's arm and pushed him with her legs, launching him into the air. Bob flew a short distance before landing hard on his shoulders at the far end of the padded area, his knees flanking his head as he lay in a crumpled, upside-down position.

"That was for that heavy crack," Susan stated as she rolled back to her feet and pointed at Bob, smiling mischievously at him before she made her way out of the padded area. Bob could only sigh and roll his eyes before going through the process of righting himself.

Walking over towards where Helen was sitting, Bob saw Susan putting on her sneakers nearby.

"Alright, Violet, I'll talk to you later," Helen said into her phone as Bob approached, "Love you too. Bye."

"Was that Violet?" Bob questioned as he walked up.

"Perceptive as always, dear," Helen commented with a smirk.

"How is she doing?" Bob asked as he put his shoes on.

"Good, good," Helen replied as she slid her phone into her pocket, "She had a pretty eventful night, actually."

"How so?" Bob inquired as he and Helen began making their way out of the large room.

"Well, she found out who the Big Hero 9 are, met a nice boy, and stopped a hostage situation," Helen explained, ticking off the points on her fingers while a mischievous smile spread across her features."

"Wow, that's great!" Bob said with a laugh before a confused expression formed on his face as he and Helen exited the room, "Wait….what was that about a boy?"

Susan couldn't help but chuckle to herself as she undid her ponytail and ran a hand through her hair. A buzzing sound catching her attention, Susan looked over at the black gym bag sitting on the floor nearby. Rummaging through it, she retrieved a cellphone, which she grinned at before holding it up to her ear.

"Hey, Violet!" Susan greeted happily, "I just heard your parents talking about you!"

As she listened to Violet's reply, Susan pulled the strap of her gym bag over her shoulder as her lips spread in a cocky smirk.

"Yeah, I was sparring with your dad a little bit," Susan answered as she made her way out of the room, "Totally kicked his butt, by the way."

Pausing again as she entered one of Home Base's labyrinthian, concrete corridors, a pensive expression crossed Susan's face.

"This weekend?" Susan questioned thoughtfully, "Yeah, I'm free this weekend. I'm free most days, actually. All I really got going on in my life right now is superhero stuff."

Another pause and Susan's expression turned hesitant.

"Are you sure I wouldn't be intruding?" Susan asked with a worried tone, "I mean, they're your friends, and I'm sure I'm at least a few years older than any of them."

Susan paused again and rolled her eyes.

"Trust me, I remember being in college," Susan stated, "To anyone still going to classes, twenty-six is ancient."

Susan paused one more before chuckling.

"Alright, if you say so," she said, her grin turning excited, "If your friends will have me, I would love to spend a night on the town in San Fransokyo."

A/N: Took me a little while to get this chapter out, but I had a lot of fun with it. Hope you guys enjoyed it as well! As alway, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	11. Girl's Night

**Chapter 11: Girl's Night**

"I'm still not sure this is a good idea," Honey said nervously as she and Go Go stood on the sidewalk, a nearby streetlight illuminating the dark street. Currently, Honey was dressed in a fluorescent pink, spaghetti-strap minidress along with a pair of wedge sandals. She had removed her glasses, and wore her hair in a high ponytail.

"Oh, come on, Honey," Go Go groaned as she leaned against a nearby concrete ledge, "You're already dressed up, and we've already taken a cab all the way down to Koreatown, so maybe we've reached the point where you can loosen up and have a little fun?"

As she spoke, Go Go, currently dressed in a shimmering silver halter top and ripped, black jeans with black, high top sneakers, looked up at Honey. Seeing the stricken expression on her friend's face, Go Go let out a sigh.

"You're allowed to have fun," Go Go said, her expression softening as she spoke, "You know that, right, Pam?"

Honey said nothing as she crossed her arms and looked away from Go Go.

"Anyway," Go Go continued with another sigh, "Violet should be here with her friend soon."

"What was her name again?" Honey questioned quietly, "Sue?"

"Yeah, I think so," Go Go concurred with a nod.

"Hey guys!" Violet's voice called from down the street. Looking in the direction the call had come from, Go Go and Honey spotted Violet waving at them as she made her way down the sidewalk with Susan at her side. Currently, Violet was dressed in a lacey purple top that left her midriff exposed along with tight, black pants and black, high heeled shoes. Susan, on the other hand, was dressed in a black tank top and white short shorts with frayed edges along with black and white sneakers. Violet wore her hair in her usual style, while Susan held her hair up with a black clip at the back of her head.

"Hey, Freshman," Go Go greeted with a smirk as she pushed herself off the concrete ledge, "Looking good."

"Thanks," Violet replied with a smile before gesturing to Susan, "This is my friend, Susan."

"Hey, Sue," Go Go said as she offered Susan her hand, "Name's Yuri, but most people call me Go Go. This is Honey."

"It's nice to meet both of you," Susan replied as she shook both of their hands.

"Love the hair by the way," Go Go commented, "Looks practically natural."

"Oh, thanks," Susan said as she touched her white locks self consciously.

"So, where are we going?" Violet inquired.

"There's an awesome club nearby," Go Go explained as she motioned for the others to follow her, "It's this way."

"Wait, a club?" Violet asked in surprise as they began making their way down the sidewalk, "Like a nightclub?"

"Yeah, I'm not talking about a country club, Freshman," Go Go replied with a snort of amusement.

"Um, I don't want to put a damper on the night, but I'm only eighteen," Violet explained nervously, "I don't think they're going to let me into a place like that."

"Oh ye of little faith," Go Go chuckled, "Don't you think there's a reason we're going to a club in Koreatown?"

As Go Go and Violet talked, Honey and Susan trailed behind them. While they walked, Honey's brow furrowed in confusion as she noticed Susan repeatedly glancing up at her.

"Is everything alright?" Honey questioned as she looked down at Susan, who stood a full head shorter than her.

"Oh yeah, sorry," Susan apologized, her cheeks turning red as she looked away from Honey and rubbed the back of her neck, "It's dumb."

"What?" Honey replied, giggling in amusement at Susan's reaction.

"Well, it's kind of a weird question," Susan began, Honey's friendly laughter putting her at ease, "But how tall are you exactly?"

This caused Honey to let out a laugh that Susan couldn't help but smile at.

"Six feet," Honey replied, biting her bottom lip in a way that made Susan's chest contract, "And that's without the heels."

"Wow," Susan replied with an awkward laugh, looking away from Honey as a confused expression briefly crossed her face, "That's….that's something."

"What about you?" Honey asked, tilting her head as she spoke, causing her ponytail to drape over her shoulder.

"Me?" Susan replied, blinking her thoughts away as she looked back at Honey, "Oh, I'm four, eleven. Whole different weather system down here."

The joke caught Honey off guard and she let out a laugh that caused Susan's heart to speed up for a second, prompting her to rub her face uncomfortably.

"So, what do you do, Susan?" Honey asked as they walked, "I mean, I'm guessing you're not a student anywhere."

"No, my college days are way behind me," Susan replied with a chuckle as she stuck her hands into the pockets of her shorts, her mind racing as she tried to form a cover story, "Just over here, being in my late twenties, working at the old grindstone."

"You make it sound like you're so old," Honey observed with a giggle, "Go Go and I are in our twenties too, you know."

"Yeah, I suppose," Susan said as she smiled up at Honey, which caused the taller woman's own smile to grow more.

"You didn't answer my question though," Honey pointed out.

"Oh, right," Susan replied as she began nervously scratching at the back of her head, "I, uh, work for the government."

"Research?" Honey inquired.

"Uh, military?" Susan answered, sounding unsure of the word as she said it as her hand lowered to the back of her neck, "I mean, I know I don't really look like the type to be in the military…."

"No, I…." Honey trailed off for a moment, her gaze drawn to the bulge of Susan's bicep as her cheeks turned pink, "I think you look like you could handle yourself."

"Wow, uh, thanks," Susan replied, blushing as well as she grinned broadly.

"We're here," Go Go spoke up, drawing the pair's attention.

Looking up, Susan saw that they were standing out front of a multistory building that looked like nothing less than a black box. A pair of spotlights flanked the one door leading into the building, guarded by a single bouncer who was managing the line of people waiting to get inside. Above the door, written in blue neon lights, was a Korean hangul.

"What does that mean?" Susan questioned as she gestured towards the sign.

" _Chum_ ," Go Go answered, "It means dance in Korean. Simple, but fitting."

"Looks like a fun place," Violet observed, able to feel the beat of the bass even from this distance.

"Maybe too fun," Honey added, looking at the long line of people trailing from the door, "How long do you think it will take us to get in?"

"Oh, wow, you thought we were waiting in line?" Go Go questioned with a snort, "Please."

With that, Go Go made a beeline for the bouncer guarding the entrance, prompting the others to follow along. As they approached, the bouncer, a young, tall Asian man with broad shoulders and a bukly build barely contained by his black blazer, matching t-shirt and blue jeans, glanced at them, before doing a double take as he saw Go Go. Sighing, the bouncer turned to face them as the group reached him.

" _Anyoung_ , _oppa_ ," Go Go greeted with a smile and a wave.

"Oh, don't you _oppa_ me, _sachon_ ," the bouncer grumbled as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"Wow, hey, where's the family love, Geon?" Go Go replied, playing at being hurt.

"You ran out of that last time you were here, Yuri," the bouncer, Geon, answered.

"What happened last time?" Go Go questioned as she quirked an eyebrow at Geon.

"You mean you don't remember breaking a glass over a guy's head while your boyfriend dislocated his shoulder," Geon answered, "Which was really impressive, but still."

"He put something in a girl's drink, Geon!" Yuri argued with exasperation, "What were we supposed to do?"

"Get me?" Geon suggested, looking at Yuri like she was stupid, "It's sort of my job to deal with that kind of thing."

"Well, sorry for doing your job for you," Go Go half-apologized before stepping back, "But I'm trying to show my friends here a good time, and they were pretty excited when I told them my handsome, single cousin worked at this really cool club."

As Geon looked over at them, Honey managed to awkwardly smile at him. Violet and Susan, on the other hand, had caught on to what Go Go was trying to do, prompting Susan to smile flirtatiously at him while Violet bit her bottom lip and shyly played with her hair.

"Um, well," Geon began to say, his face heating up as he looked at the girls before his eyes narrowed and he pointed at Violet, "Wait, how old is she?"

"Um, enough?" Go Go answered nervously.

"Yuri, come on!" Geon hissed angrily, "Getting into fights in the club is one thing, but bringing in someone underage? I could lose my job for that!"

"She'll be fine," Go Go reassured him, "I'll take care of her."

Geon's expression said that this, if anything, only worried him further.

"Fine," Go Go sighed as she crossed her arms, "If you let us in, I'll make it worth your while."

"How so?" Geon asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"I'll do any work you need on your car, for free," Go Go grumbled, "For a month."

"Three months," Geon countered as his eyes narrowed.

"Two," Go Go retorted, glaring up at him.

"Deal," Geon agreed with a sigh, clearly unsure about what he was doing as he stepped aside and gestured towards the door of the club, "Welcome to _Chum_ , ladies."

"Come on, girls," Go Go grinned back at the others as she beckoned them to follow her inside.

"Try not to break anything while you're in there!" Geon called after them, "Or anyone, for that matter!"

Past the entrance was a corridor that branched off into a coat room. Heading through a set of double doors at the end of the corridor, the girls were met by the almost deafening sound of the pounding music that filled the air. Most the club was made up of a single, two story room, with a large balcony hugging the walls of the floor above them. The center of the room was occupied by the dance floor, which was made up of square panels that glowed the same shade of blue as the club's sign and flashed in time with the beat of the music while along its edges various tables and couches had been set up for people to sit in. One side of the room was dominated by a long bar underlit by electric blue lights and manned by a small army of bartenders who were taking orders from a small portion of the swarm of people in the club.

What drew everyone's attention though was the DJ stand set up directly across from the entrance. Made up of a two-tier dias, the DJ, a young Asian man in sunglasses, stood on the upper tier behind a stand that appeared to be some kind of combination of a turntable and a lighting control system. The second tier was occupied by large machines that the girls quickly realized were holographic projectors. Currently, the projectors were creating the partially translucent images of a quartet of your women that some of the girls recognized as a Korean pop group. The holograms gave the illusion that the women were giving a live performance, singing and dancing along with the music the DJ was playing.

"Wow!" Violet said in wonder as she took it all in, her voice barely audible over the blasting music.

"I know, right?" Go Go replied with a laugh before motioning for the others to follow her, "Come on!"

Following Go Go, the young women made their way into the mass of people that were mingling around at the edges of the dance floor.

"Alright, Honey, you take Sue and grab us a table," Go Go instructed as she pointed at Violet, "I'm going to take the Freshman here to get us all some drinks. What do you guys want?"

"I'll take a gin and tonic," Susan replied.

"I'll just have a water," Honey added.

"Cool, two gin and tonics, got it," Go Go replied before she took Violet's arm and began leading her through the crowd towards the bar.

Barely repressing an amused smile, Susan looked up at Honey as the taller girl sighed.

"Your friend can be a little….forceful, huh?" Susan inquired.

"You noticed that, did you?" Honey replied with a chuckle before she straightened up and glanced around, looking over the heads of the other people in the crowd, "Oh, there's a table right over there!"

"Lead the way!" Susan said before following Honey as she made her way through the crowd.

At the same time, Go Go and Violet had managed to make it to the bar and catch the attention of one of the bartenders.

"What can I get you ladies?" the bartender asked.

"Two gin and tonics, a bottle of your cheapest beer and…." Go Go trailed off as she looked at Violet for the answer.

"Oh, uh, I don't really know," Violet mumbled, a stricken look on her face.

"Two of your cheapest beers," Go Go said to the bartender, who nodded and left to fill the order.

"So, you and Fred, huh?" Go Go questioned as she turned around and leaned her back against the bar.

"I mean, it's nothing serious," Violet replied somewhat awkwardly as she played with her hair, caught off guard by the abrupt change in topic, "Not yet, anyway."

"Hey, no pressure," Go Go replied with a chuckle, her gaze focused on the dance floor, "You make out with him after you left?"

"N-No," Violet answered, her cheeks blushing brightly, "I just gave him a kiss….on the cheek."

"Cute," Go Go observed with a smirk, "And that's probably for the best. I'm not sure I could have handled it if you had answered yes to that question."

"What's that mean?" Violet questioned with a furrowed brow.

"It's just that I can't picture Fred in any kind of romantic situation," Go Go elaborated, "He's been my friend for so long that he's a complete sexual non-entity to me. Like my cousin Geon, or a lamp."

"I mean, that can't be the only reason," Violet replied with a laugh, "Weren't you and Wasabi friends before you started dating?"

"Yeah, but have you looked at Wasabi?" Go Go retorted, her cheeks coloring as she bit her bottom lip emphatically, causing Violet to laugh again.

"So, what is your guys' story?" Violet inquired, "How did you get together?"

"Well, surviving an alien invasion helped," Go Go joked with a snort, before her expression turned contemplative, "But I'm pretty sure Wasabi had a crush on me through most of our friendship."

"And you?" Violet pressed.

"Like I said, I've always thought Wasabi was attractive," Go Go answered, a small smile on her face, "But I pushed that sort of thing away for a long time."

"Why?" Violet asked, before her expression turned stricken, "If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"Nah, it's fine," Go Go replied with a dismissive wave of her hand, "Before I went to college, I didn't really have a lot of friends. I was kind of an asshole as a teenager. And I also dated more than a few guys who were even bigger assholes than I was."

"So, you didn't want to risk losing his friendship," Violet observed, "And you didn't want to get hurt again."

"Pretty much, yeah," Go Go agreed with a nod, "I'll admit, it took a lot for him to crack that nut, but in the end, I'm happy with how things turned out."

Go Go's comment caused Violet to smile at the young woman, before a thought came to her.

"What are the others up to tonight?" Violet inquired.

"Well, I know Riley and Tip are having a slumber party," Go Go answered with a shrug, "I think they may have borrowed Baymax too. I would have liked to include them but I figured it would have been morally irresponsible of me to sneak a pair of twelve-year-olds into a club."

"I suppose it would have been," Violet agreed with a laugh, "What about the guys?"

"I have no idea," Go Go replied as she looked at Violet with a questioning expression, "What do guys even do when we're not around?"

 _Meanwhile_ ,

"I am being victorious!" Oh declared as he stood on the couch in Fred's room, waving a video game controller above his head while Hiro, Wasabi, and Fred, also seated on the couch with controllers, looked at him in exasperation, "I am being the champion of the Smashing Brothers! I am-"

The rest of Oh's celebration was cut off as Hiro smacked him on the side of the head with a pillow.

 _Later_ ,

The four young women had gathered around a standing table near the club's dance floor, a few empty glasses and bottles scattered across the tabletop as they nursed their current drinks. Taking another sip of her beer, Violet almost gagged and made a disgusted face, causing the others to laugh.

"Ugh, nope, that's awful," Violet complained as she looked over at Go Go, "Light beer isn't any better than regular beer. How can you drink it?"

"Well, I don't drink it for the taste," Go Go answered with a roll of her eyes before she downed the rest of her beer and set it on the table with a thud of finality, "Come on, we'll find you something you can stomach."

As Go Go led Violet away from the table, Susan shook her head in amusement before turning her attention towards Honey.

"Thanks again for letting me come with you guys," Susan stated, "It's been a lot of fun."

"It has!" Honey agreed, giggling bubbly as she finished her drink and set it down on the table, "I'm starting to think it was a good thing that Go Go dragged me out tonight."

"Why did she want to drag you out tonight?" Susan inquired.

"I'll admit, I've been kind of cooping myself up in the lab lately," Honey explained with a tone of embarrassment, "I've honestly been trying to keep myself busy."

"Why's that?" Susan inquired.

At this, Honey's expression turned stricken, causing Susan to clench her hand into a fist and bite her bottom lip with worry.

"I'm sorry," Susan quickly apologized, "You don't have to tell me if it's too personal."

"No, it's fine," Honey replied with a shake of her head, "I mean, it is personal, but I think it would be good to talk about it."

Shifting uncomfortably on her feet for a moment, Honey sighed before continuing.

"I had a boyfriend," Honey stated, "Tadashi. He was part of our group of friends before we got together and….and I'm pretty sure I was in love with him."

"I'm sensing a "but" coming," Susan observed.

"But he died," Honey said quietly, almost imperceptible over the blasting music, her eyes misting up as she spoke, "There was a fire and he….he didn't make it out."

"Oh my God," Susan whispered, her expression sorrowful as she instinctively reached out and put her hand on Honey's, "I'm so sorry."

Honey blinked in surprise at the other woman's touch, but didn't pull away as she quickly wiped the half-formed tears from her eyes.

"Thank you," Honey replied and gave Susan a small smile that caused the other woman's heart flutter, "As you probably have already guessed, I took it pretty hard. I spent a long time in a dark place emotionally before my friends managed to pull me out of it. And even after, I've been trying to keep busy."

"Why's that?" Susan inquired.

"I don't know," Honey admitted with a shake of her head, "Part of me just feel like….like it's not fair that I get to go on enjoying things while he….doesn't."

"Look, I never knew this guy," Susan said, a concerned expression on her face, "But I can't imagine he'd want you to just….work yourself to death because he wasn't around anymore."

"I know," Honey agreed with a sigh, "My friends have pretty much said the same thing, but….I just think I need to work through it, you know?"

"Well, it makes me happy that you came out tonight too then," Susan replied before smirking, "If you'd like to talk about something funny, we can change topics to my crappy love life."

"Sure," Honey chuckled.

"Well, I guess the big thing is that I was almost married once," Susan said before she downed the rest of her drink.

"Really?" Honey questioned in surprise, "What happened?"

"My wedding day got canceled because of a freak accident," Susan explained, "And afterwards, I guess you could say I….changed, and he didn't like it, so we ended up calling it off."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Honey said sympathetically.

"It's fine, really," Susan replied with a shrug and a snort, "Turns out he was actually a self-centered dick, and I just hadn't noticed. I feel like I dodged a bullet, if anything."

"Well, I'm happy that it worked out for you," Honey commented with a smile before she glanced at their still touching hands, "Are you….seeing anyone now days?"

"No," Susan answered with a sigh, "I guess you could say I've become a bit of a workaholic too."

"Birds of a feather then," Honey commented as she propped her head up with her free hand while nonchalantly turning her other one over so that she was holding Susan's, "I'm happy that you could come out with m-...out with us."

Looking down at their joined hands, Susan momentarially thought of pulling away from Honey. Lifting her head to look Honey in the eye, she instead smiled and gripped the other woman's hand tighter.

"Hey, this is a club, right?" Susan questioned with a smile, "You wanna dance?"

At the questioned, Honey's cheeks turned red before a wide smile spread across her face.

"I'd love to!" Honey replied before allowing Susan to lead her by the hand down to the dance floor.

A/N: So this chapter turned into a monster that quickly got a way from me. Ended up cutting it here and moving the rest to the next chapter. The good news is that means the next chapter will be coming out very soon. For now though, hope you guys liked this one! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	12. Fight Song

**Chapter 12: Fight Song**

Over by the bar, Go Go was sipping another beer as she watched Violet test out a rum and coke. While Violet sipped at her drink, Go Go took notice of a group of a dozen or so rowdy young men she guessed were frat boys from another college. Rolling her eyes, Go Go quirked her eyebrow at Violet as she lowered her drink from her mouth,.

"Well?" Go Go questioned, "How's that one?"

"Way better," Violet replied as she took another sip and looked around, blinking in surprise as she caught sight of something.

"Hey, look," Violet said as she nodded her head in the direction she was looking.

Following Violet's gaze, Go Go spotted Honey and Susan making their way onto the dance floor, smirking as they began grooving to the music.

"Well, alright," Go Go said with an approving tone as she leaned against the bar, "Nice to see her finally loosening up. Happy you brought your friend along, Freshman."

"Yeah, night's going pretty good," Violet agreed before taking another sip from her drink as the current song playing ended.

"Alright, everybody!" the DJ called loudly over the sound system, "I need you all to find a good lookin' someone to groove with because we about to get intimate!"

As he finished speaking, the lights on the dance floor turned dark red, and a song with a thumping bass began. At the same time, the holographic image of a single, young woman appeared before the DJ and began to perform.

 _I'm so into you, I can barely breathe._

"Oh, wow," Honey said with a chuckle as she glanced around the dance floor, noticing the number of couples who had moved closer together and were dancing to the song, "Do you think we should sit this one out?"

 _And all I wanna do is to fall in deep._

Looking up into Honey's eyes, Susan held the other woman's gaze for a moment as a smile crept across her face.

 _But close ain't close enough 'til we cross the line._

"Nah, this is fine," Susan replied with a shake of her head, before she began to dance to the beat of the song.

 _So name a game to play, and I'll roll the dice, hey._

Honey smiled at this and moved to join Susan before she felt a hand placed on her shoulder.

 _Oh baby, look what you started._

"Hey, sexy," a young man, one of the frat boys Go Go had noticed earlier, said as Honey turned to face him, flashing her a charming smile as she did, "You wanna dance?"

 _The temperature's rising in here._

"Uh, no thanks," Honey replied, giving him a reassuring, if uncomfortable smile in return.

 _Is this gonna happen?_

Honey attempted to turn back towards Susan, but was stopped as the young man gripped her shoulder harder and forced her to keep facing him.

 _Been waiting and waiting for you to make a move._

"Come on, baby, don't be like that," the young man urged, though Honey noticed his smile had lost some of its charm.

 _Before I make a move._

"Sorry pal, she's taken," Susan spoke up as she wrapped her arm around Honey's waist and easily pulled her out of the young man's grip, pressing her and Honey's bodies together in the process.

 _So baby, come light me up and baby I'll let you on it._

Her face flushed, Honey looked down at Susan in surprise, as the young woman, her arms still around Honey's waist and their stomachs pressed together, began gyrating in time with the upturned beat of the song.

 _A little bit dangerous, but baby, that's how I want it._

Looking up at Honey, Susan could feel her face heat up as well, but did her best to give the taller woman a reassuring smile. A grin tugging at the edges of her own lips, Honey felt herself relax as she began to move in unison with Susan.

 _A little less conversation, and a little more touch my body._

"Whoa," Violet said from her and Go Go's vantage point by the bar, "Are you seeing this?"

 _'Cause I'm so into you, into you, into you._

"Yeah," Go Go confirmed with a chuckle, "I guess Sue's really gotten Honey to loosen up, huh?"

 _Got everyone watchin' us, so baby, let's keep it secret._

"You know her better than I do," Violet said, her expression unsure, "But this looks like a little bit more than loosened up to me."

 _A little bit scandalous, but baby, don't let them see it._

Her brow furrowing as she looked at Violet, Go Go turned her attention back towards the dance floor as she tried to get a better look at what Honey and Susan were doing.

 _A little less conversation and a little more touch my body._

Closing her eyes as she danced, Honey placed her hands on Susan's shoulders, prompting the shorter woman to hold her tighter and press their bodies closer together.

 _'Cause I'm so into you, into you, into you, oh yeah._

As Honey opened her eyes again, she gave Susan a half-lidded look that the shorter woman couldn't quite understand, but made her heart beat faster in her chest.

 _This could take some time, hey_.

Suddenly, the two were pulled apart as the young man grabbed Honey by her arm and yanked her out of Susan's grasp.

 _I made too many mistakes_.

"Hey!" Go Go shouted angrily, her voice lost over the sound of the song as Violet covered her mouth in shock with one hand.

 _Better get this right, right, baby_.

"Alright, that's enough of that crap," the young man growled as he spun Honey to face him, "No one is buying that."

 _Oh baby, look what you started._

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Honey spat as she yanked her arm out of his grasp and glared at the young man, "And keep your hands off me!"

 _The temperature's rising in here._

"The idea that you're really with this old chick," the young man scoffed as he gestured at Susan.

 _Is this gonna happen?_

"Why don't you back off!?" Susan demanded, stepping between Honey and the young man as she glared up at him.

 _Been waiting and waiting for you to make a move._

"Oh, I'm so scared," the young man said in a mocking tone before sneering down at Susan, "Like you could get with a chick like that."

 _Before I make a move_.

"I don't know what to tell you, pal," Honey said, smiling suggestively at him as she looped her arms around Susan's shoulders, "You're barking up the wrong tree."

 _So baby, come light me up and baby I'll let you on it._

As the song's beat picked up again, Honey pulled Susan back against her, pressing their bodies together once more as she began dancing again.

 _A little bit dangerous, but baby, that's how I want it._

Susan was caught off guard for a moment, before looking up at Honey as the taller woman took one of Susan's arms by the wrist and looped it around her neck, her other arm wrapped around Susan's chest.

 _A little less conversation, and a little more touch my body._

Biting her bottom lip as she looked up at Honey, Susan placed her arm over the one Honey had draped across her chest while pushing the fingers of her other hand into the taller woman's hair, causing Honey to clench the shorter woman tighter.

 _'Cause I'm so into you, into you, into you._

"Wow," Violet said with wide eyes, "They are….really into it, huh?"

 _Got everyone watchin' us, so baby, let's keep it secret._

"Forget about them," Go Go quickly replied, "I don't think that douchebag is backing off."

 _A little bit scandalous, but baby, don't let them see it._

Glancing around, Go Go spotted Geon as he made his way into the club. Letting out a sharp whistle, Go Go managed to catch Geon's attention from across the room and pointed towards where Honey and Susan were dancing.

 _A little less conversation and a little more touch my body_.

Looking where Go Go indicated, Geon spotted the young man, who was glaring at Honey and Susan as they danced. His eyes narrowing, Geon nodded at Go Go in understanding before he began musciling his way through the crowd towards the young man.

 _'Cause I'm so into you, into you, into you._

"Hey, you-" the young man began to snarl but was interrupted as Geon grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him away from the young women.

 _Tell me what you came here for._

As Geon began talking with the young man, Susan turned around to face Honey, holding the taller woman's hands in hers as she did.

 _'Cause I can't, I can't wait no more._

"Whoa, that was….that was something," Susan commented as she looked up at Honey, her face flushed.

 _I'm on the edge with no control_.

"Y-Yeah, I know," Honey replied with a nervous titter, "I-I hope I wasn't too forward right now."

 _And I need, I need you to know_.

"No! No no no," Susan quickly answered with a rapid shake of her head, "You….You were fine."

 _You to know, oh_

"Oh good," Honey said she glanced away from Susan and anxiously played with her ponytail, "I-I figured we had to get that guy to back off somehow, right?"

 _So baby, come light me up and baby I'll let you on it._

"Was….Was that all that was?" Susan asked, gulping nervously, her emotions creating such a tumultuous storm inside her that she wasn't sure what she hoped Honey's answer would be.

 _A little bit dangerous, but baby, that's how I want it._

"I….I, uh…." Honey stammered, her eyes wide as she looked back at Susan.

 _A little less conversation, and a little more touch my body._

Her gaze locked with Honey, Susan, feeling as though she was running on autopilot, stepped closer to the taller woman, her hands nervously rising as she did.

 _'Cause I'm so into you, into you, into you._

In a split second of movement, Susan reached up and grabbed Honey's head before pulling it down so that she could crush her lips against the taller woman's. Honey's eyes went as wide as saucers at this, before she seemed to relax and closed them, wrapping her arms around Susan's neck as she eagerly returned the kiss.

 _Got everyone watchin' us, so baby, let's keep it secret._

"Whoa!" Violet exclaimed as she watched with wide eyes, "Okay, I really have to ask, is Honey-"

 _A little bit scandalous, but baby, don't let them see it._

"Not now, Violet!" Go Go snapped before pointing at something, "Look!"

 _A little less conversation and a little more touch my body._

Looking towards where Go Go pointed, Violet saw that as Geon was working to remove the young man, the other frat boys he had been with were approaching Geon from behind.

 _'Cause I'm so into you, into you, into you._

"Back off, man!" the young man snarled as he pulled himself out of Geon's grip, "I'm just trying to have a good time!"

 _So come light me up, so come light me up my baby_.

"I saw you harassing those girls, bro," Geon said, grabbing the young man by the arm again while pointing an accusing finger at him with the other, "You're ass is out of here."

 _A little dangerous, a little dangerous my baby._

"Hey, let go of him, asshole!" one of the frat boys shouted before he punched Geon in the stomach, causing the bouncer to double over in pain.

 _A little less conversation and a little more touch my body._

"Take a seat, jackass!" another frat boy shouted as he kicked Geon to the floor, prompting Go Go to begin pushing her way through the gathering crowd, Violet following behind her.

 _'Cause I'm so into you, into you, into you._

As the song faded, Honey and Susan pulled away from one another, breathing heavy, ignorant to the excitement happening behind them.

"Wow," Susan whispered, her face flushed as she looked up at Honey, "That was….wow..."

"I know...I…." Honey replied, touching her lips with her fingers before her expression slowly began to change to one of panic, "I...I…"

"Oh no," Susan said, her eyes going wide, "Oh no. I-I've never done something like this before. D-Did I do something wr-"

Susan's words were cut off as the young man who had been harassing her and Honey smashed a beer bottle over her head.

A cry of surprise and alarm went up through the crowd as they rapidly backed away from scene.

"Susan!" Honey screamed as she covered her mouth and looked at the shorter woman in horror.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell was that!?" the DJ demanded over the loudspeakers while the lights of the dance floor suddenly lit up bright, "Did that dude just smash a bottle over that chick's head? Where the hell is security, someone needs to bounce that asshole!"

"You like that, bitch!?" the young man shouted at Susan, who stood stockstill, the blow having knocked her hair free from her hairclip, "That's what you get for messing with me, you lesbo….lesbo…."

The young man's voice trailed off as he realized that while his attack had caught Susan by surprise, she was otherwise unphased by the blow. Slowly running a hand through her hair, broken glass tinkling onto the floor as she did, Susan made a disgusted face as she felt the beer that was already soaking into her white locks.

"Did you just get beer in my hair!?" Susan demanded as she turned to glare at the young man.

"I-I-" the young man stammered, unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Asshole!" Susan shouted as she shoved the young man in the chest, knocking him clear off his feet and sending him crashing into a table at the edge of the dance floor.

"Whoa!" the DJ exclaimed with an impressed tone, "Little lady is tougher than she looks!"

"Hey man, you okay?" one of the frat boys asked as they helped him back to his feet.

"I'm fine!" the young man answered indignantly before pointing aggressively at Susan, "Someone get that-"

Whatever he was going to say next was lost as Go Go ran up and drop kicked the side of his head. The blow sent the young man flying and once he hit the floor, he made a loud squeaking noise as he slid to a stop.

"Oh, snap!" the DJ exclaimed in amazement as Go Go easily bounced back to her feet, "Tastes like some Converse high-tops, bitch!"

The frat boys looked at their friend in shock before they turned their attention towards Go Go, who was rolling her neck and loosening up her arms. Glaring, the frat boys moved towards Go Go, their hands clenching into fists.

"Whoa, hey, I think whoever doesn't want to rumble better back up right the hell now," the DJ warned, prompting the other club-goers to quickly make room. Seeing this, Go Go smirked and turned her attention towards the DJ.

"Hey!" Go Go called as the young men began to surround her, "Give me a beat!"

"You serious right now?" the DJ questioned as he lowered his sunglasses to look at Go Go in confusion.

"Yes, I'm serious!" Go Go yelled back as the young men began to close in on her.

"...Yeah, okay, I can dig that," the DJ relented with a nod before he began playing with the controls before him. A moment later, music kicked up as the holographic images of four young women appeared before the DJ.

 _Hey, hey, hey!_

With the group of frat boys distracted by Go Go, Violet circled around them, trying to find a strategic position.

 _Hey-hey-hey-hey, hey!_

Shaking the last of the broken glass out of her hair, Susan began stomping towards the group, a fire in her eyes.

 _You know who it is, coming 'round again._

At the same time, Honey quietly pulled her shoes off and took them into her hands, her eyes scanning the group of young men.

 _You want a dose of this right now,_

"Alright folks, I've always wanted to say this," the DJ shouted over the loudspeaker, "Let's get ready to rumble!"

 _It's K/DA, uh!_

A predatory smile spread across Go Go's face as one of the frat boys rushed at her from behind, his fist cocked back to throw a punch.

 _I'm a goddess with a blade._

Leaning back, Go Go dodged the punch before reaching up to grab the frat boy's arm, using it to steady herself so that she could strike him in the face with a kick.

 _Sori chyuh bwa nae eereum,_

Righting herself as the frat boy reeled from the blow, Go Go ducked as another one threw a punch at her head before driving her fist into his stomach, doubling him over.

 _Itchi moht ha geh_

As the frat boy gasped for breath, Go Go kicked him in the thigh, forcing him to spread his legs before throwing a follow up blow at his groin, causing him to squeak in pain as he fell to his knees, clutching his manhood.

 _Loud, loud, loud, loud!_

As the first frat boy recovered, he tried grabbing Go Go by the arm. Immediately, Go Go reached up and grasped the offending hand before throwing a kick at the man's stomach. As the young man doubled over in pain, Go Go used the same foot to kick the second frat boy on the chin, knocking him to the floor before she swung her foot back into the first's groin. As he bent over in pain, Go Go finished the young man by spinning around and driving her knee into his face, the blow connecting with a crunch.

 _I could take it to the top,_

A third member of the group then rushed up behind Go Go and grabbed her in a bear hug. Snarling, Go Go snapped her head backwards, driving the back of her skull into her attacker's face. Letting out a cry of pain, the young man released Go Go, allowing her to spin around and shove him back.

 _Juhl dae mum choo ji moht hae,_

Running up to the young man as he caught himself, Go Go dropped kicked him in the chest, before catching herself on her hands and immediately kicking herself back to her feet.

 _Nae ga kkeut nae joo neun bad gal, gal, gal!_

Rushing forward again as the young man recovered from her attack, Go Go threw herself at him and grabbed hold of him with her legs around his head. Once she had a secure grip on him, Go Go threw all her weight backwards, managing to flip herself over and slam the frat boy against the dance floor.

 _And when I start to talk that that (That that),_

"Damn, that chick's go moves!" the DJ exclaimed before he spotted Violet approaching one of the frat boys from behind, "Uh oh, I think player two just joined the game!"

 _Oh, you won't know how to react._

Hearing this, one of the young men glanced over his shoulder just in time for Violet to sucker punch him in the face.

 _I'm a picture-perfect face with that wild in my veins,_

Reeling from the blow, the young man was unprepared as Violet pressed him with a one-two combo, her fists surrounded by thin force fields imperceptible in the dim light.

 _You can hear it in my growl, growl, growl, growl._

The attack forced the young man down onto one knee, allowing Violet to grab his hair with one hand and punch him four times in the face before letting him collapse to the floor.

 _So keep your eyes on me now,_

Hearing Susan approach him, one of the young men spun around to face the glaring woman.

 _Mu uhtseul bo dun joah hal guh ya,_

As the frat boy threw a punch at her, Susan didn't so much as flinch as she let the blow connect with her chin. To his horror, the young man's attack didn't budge Susan an inch, and instead, the bones of his fist seemed to shatter as if he had just punched a concrete wall.

 _Dahl sooup neun level,_

Screaming in agony, the frat boy clutched his broken hand by the wrist and staggered back. Taking a step forward, Susan cut off his screams by slapping him across the face, the force of the blow slamming him face first into the dance floor and knocking him out cold.

 _Na wa dae gyul won han nuhl hwak shin hae,_

"Oh shit, watch out for the little one, boys!" the DJ laughed, "She hits you, you hit the floor!"

 _We got it all in our hands now,_

Another one of the young men moved to attack Susan from the side, but was stopped when a wedge sandal hit him on the side of the head.

 _So can you handle what we're all about?_

Turning towards the source of the attack, the frat boy caught site of Honey just before she spun her arm around in a softball pitching motion and hit him square in the face with her other shoe.

 _We're so tough, not scared to show you up,_

"Yo, what was that!?" the DJ exclaimed, "Who throws a shoe, honestly?"

 _Can you feel the rush now?_

As the young man reeled from the attack, Susan walked up to him, grabbed him by the back of his shirt and yanked him downwards, slamming him against the dance floor with a thud.

 _Ain't nobody bringing us_

Leaping onto one of the young men's shoulders, Go Go wrapped her legs around his neck before she began repeatedly punching him in the side of the head.

 _Down, down, down, down, down, down!_

Seeing Susan approaching them, Go Go quickly slid off the young man's back and shoved him forward, allowing Susan to catch him on the stomach with her hand, knocking the air out of his lungs.

 _They could try it but we're gonna wear the crown!_

As the young man gasped for air, Susan grabbed him by the back of his shirt with both hands before tossing him forward, sending him rolling across the dance floor.

 _You could go another round,_

Grabbing a glass from a nearby table, Honey hurled it at one of the young men, striking him on the side of the head as the glassware shattered into a million pieces.

 _Round, round, round, round, round, round,_

"Oh come on, not the glasses!" the DJ complained, "That stuff's expensive!"

 _Wish you luck, but you're not bringing us down!_

Obligingly, Honey then grabbed an empty beer bottle and tossed it at another of the young men, catching him on the shoulder, distracting him enough to let Violet punch him across the jaw.

 _We go hard (Hard), 'til we get it, get it!_

As one of the young men attempted to put her into a choke hold, Go Go grabbed his hair before throwing her whole body into a pendulum swing, the momentum letting her flip her assailant over her shoulder and onto his back.

 _We go hard (Hard), we so in it, in it!_

Ducking below a punch, Violet slammed her fist against her attacker's knee, forcing him to fall onto his other one. As he cried out in pain, Violet quickly stood up before slamming her knee into his face and knocking him to the floor.

 _We pop stars (Pop stars), only winning, winning now!_

Lowering her head, Susan slammed her shoulder into one of the frat boy's stomach before standing up and flipping him over it, the young man letting out a cry of pain as he landed hard on his back.

 _Ain't nobody bringing us down, down, down, down!_

Throwing another bottle, Honey managed to catch one of the young men in the groin, leaving him open to Go Go kicking him in the side of the head as he doubled over in pain.

 _Hey! You ready for this? (Let's go)_

As the young man rolled across the floor, three more quickly moved to surround Go Go.

 _See uhn jae deunji nae mo seup magic_

Spinning towards the young man running at her from behind, Go Go batted the punch he threw at her to the side before quickly jabbing him in the face.

 _Dan han bun eh naega jab uh,_

As the frat boy was stunned by the punch, Go Go reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders, before she kneed him twice in the stomach.

 _Juhl dae gi jook ji ahn chi uh! (Uh)_

Seeing another of the frat boys rushing at her from behind, Go Go threw a kick at him, catching him in the chest before snapping her leg back into the first's groin.

 _Pow pow ni ga mwol ahruh (Ahruh),_

As the young man gasped in pain, Go Go tightened her grip on his shoulders and pulled him downwards, slamming him face first into the floor.

 _Gyun dil soo up ssuh won hae do (Hae do),_

Turning back to the second frat boy, Go Go found he had recovered and was charging at her, fist cocked. Catching the punch as it came, Go Go twisted the young man's arm around before kicking him in the chest.

 _Won ha neun gae uhl gool ae boyuh,_

As the young man let out a cry of pain, Go Go slammed her elbow against his back, the blow knocking him to the ground.

 _I'm trouble and you're wanting it,_

Looking up, Go Go saw the third frat boy rushing at her. Hopping over the second one, Go Go dropped kicked the third in the chest before dropping her elbow onto the second's back.

 _I'm so cold (So cold),_

As she rose back to her feet, Go Go blocked a knee from the third frat boy before shoving him back so she could get her feet fully under her.

 _When I move that way, you gon' be so blown (So blown),_

Squaring off with the frat boy, Go Go quickly blocked a punch from him before dodging the follow up and blocking a third.

 _I'm the realest in the game, uh!_

Punching the young man across the face, Go Go followed up with a one-two kick combo to his knee and his chest, knocking her attacker to the floor.

 _Said I'm on fire with a blade,_

Turning to face one of the frat boys, Violet quickly punched him in the face as he approached her. As the young man reeled backwards, Violet followed up with two punches to the chest before punching him across the chin and knocking him to the floor.

 _You're about to hear my name,_

Turning towards another frat boy, Violet eyes narrowed as he squared off with her and grinned cockily. As the young man threw a punch at her, Violet counter by punching his fist, her force field protected hand slamming against his with a crack. Grunting in pain, the frat boy threw a punch with his other fist, which Violet countered in the same way.

 _Ringing in your head like, whoa,_

Letting out a cry of anger, the young man threw a kick at her, which Violet dodged and countered by punching his knee. As he stumbled back, clutching his injured knee, Violet finished him by punching him across the chin and knocking him to the ground.

 _So keep your eyes on me now,_

As one of the frat boys threw a punch at her, Susan easily ducked the attack before hitting him as lightly as possible in the stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs and doubling him over in pain.

 _Mu uhtseul bo dun joah hal guh ya,_

As the young man was hunched over, Susan reached out and grabbed him by the throat before easily lifting him up and slamming him onto his back.

 _We're so tough, not scared to show you up,_

Spinning towards another one of her attackers, Susan easily caught a kick he threw at her, before she tossed his leg upwards and flipped him over onto his back.

 _Can you feel the rush now?_

As the young man lay on the ground, Susan saw another frat boy running at her. Placing her foot against the prone young man, Susan pushed him across the floor, knocking him into the second one's feet and sending him sprawling.

 _Ain't nobody bringing us,_

Grabbing another bottle, Honey hurled it across the room and hit one of the frat boys in the face with it. As he grabbed his face in pain, Honey threw a second bottle at him, hitting him right in the groin, causing him to crumple to the ground.

 _Down, down, down, down, down, down!_

Running across the dance floor, Go Go vaulted over the prone frat boy before wrapping her legs around the neck of a second one.

 _They could try it but we're gonna wear the crown,_

Using the momentum from her jump, Go Go swung herself around and flipped the frat boy onto his back while she landed on her feet.

 _You could go another round,_

Blocking a punch from one of her attackers, Violet countered by punching him twice in the face.

 _Round, round, round, round, round, round,_

Ducking under the frat boy's wild follow-up swing, Violet punched him hard in the chest, sending him stumbling back.

 _Wish you luck, but you're not bringing us down,_

As the young man reeled, Susan stepped up behind him and wrapped her arms around the young man's midsection. Lifting him up, Susan suplexed him against the floor, leaving him in a crumbled heap as she rolled back to her feet.

 _We go hard (Hard), 'til we get it, get it,_

Rushing at one of the frat boys, Go Go leapt forward and spun around in midair, allowing her to wrap her legs around his midsection while facing the floor. Rolling forward, Go Go pulled the young man off his feet and slammed him onto his back. Grabbing hold of his leg, Go Go twisted it with a crack, leaving him writhing on the floor in pain.

 _We go hard (Hard), we so in it, in it,_

Throwing a punch at one of her assailants, Violet struck him in the gut, the blow forcing him back half a step. Snarling in anger, the young man threw a kick at Violet which she managed to catch before twisting his leg, spinning the man through the air until he landed hard on the dance floor.

 _We pop stars (Pop stars), only winning, winning now,_

Ducking under the wild punch one of her attackers, Susan slammed her shoulder into his gut before lifting him off his feet. As the young man struggled against her hold, Susan adjusted her grip before slamming him against the floor, knocking him out cold.

 _Ain't nobody bringing us down, down, down, down,_

Grabbing a pair of beer bottles off a nearby table, Honey hurled one at one of the frat boys, striking him on the knee. As he fell onto his other knee, Honey threw the other bottle at him, hitting him on the side of the head and knocking him to the floor.

 _Oh, mmh,_

Breathing heavy, the girls took a moment to collect themselves as the few remaining frat boys recovered.

 _Oh, nan muhm chu ji anna,_

Glancing at the other girls, Go Go smirked before turning her attention back to the young men and settled into a fighting pose, prompting the other to ready themselves as well.

 _Oh, oh, we go hard,_

Nervously, the remaining frat boys glanced at one another before preparing themselves as well.

 _Oh, oh, we pop stars (Stars), stars (Stars),_

As the two groups began running at one another, the DJ adjusted a few things on his controls, causing the lights on the dance floor to begin flashing rapidly in time with the beat of the music.

 _Ain't nobody bringing us_ ,

As one of the frat boys reached her, Susan ducked down and slammed her arm against his legs, tripping him and sending him flipping into the air.

 _Ain't nobody bringing us,_

As the young man flew through the air, Go Go jumped up and drop kicked him, hitting him hard in the stomach and slamming him to the floor.

 _Down, down, down, down, down, down (Down, down),_

Dodging out of the way of a punch, Violet countered by jabbing the frat boy twice in the face. As the young man reeled, Violet punched him hard in the gut before uppercutting him on the chin, knocking him to the ground.

 _They could try it but we're gonna wear the crown,_

Stepping out of the way of a charge, Susan spun around and grabbed her attacker by the waist of his pants. Tugging back, Susan was surprised as a chunk of his pants tore away, sending the young stumbling away. Smirking in amusement, Susan watched as the young man struggled to keep his pants up, before walking up and shoving him over.

 _You could go another round,_

Throwing another empty bottle, Honey struck one of the frat boys in the shoulder with it, allowing Susan to grab him by the shoulders and throw him to the ground.

 _Round, round, round, round, round, round,_

Hurling another one, Honey struck one of the frat boys on the shoulder, allowing Violet to run up and throw a rapid series of punches at his face, knocking him to the floor.

 _Wish you luck, but you're not bringing us down_

Throwing her final bottle at another one of the frat boys, Honey struck him on the hip, knocking him down to his knees. Running up, Go Go wrapped her legs around his neck before whipping around him and throwing him down.

 _We go hard (Hard), 'til we get it, get it,_

Leaping into the air, Go Go whipped her foot around and struck a frat boy across the chin, her heel connecting with a crack as he crumbled to the floor.

 _We go hard (Hard), we so in it, in it,_

Grabbing hold of one of the frat boy's shirts, Violet repeatedly punched him in the face, breaking his nose before allowing him to crumple to the floor.

 _We pop stars (Pop stars), only winning, winning now,_

Scrambling across the ground in his attempt to get away from the other girls, one of the frat boys ended up running into Susan, bouncing off her like she was a brick wall. As the young man stumbled back, Susan grabbed hold of his face before slamming her head against it, knocking him out cold.

 _Ain't nobody bringing us down, down, down, down_ ,

At that point, the young man who had first accosted them managed to get himself to his feet. Blinking in confusion as he rubbed the side of his head in pain, the young man looked around, noting his frat brothers sprawled on the floor around him. Looking forward, the young man found Go Go, Honey, Violet and Susan standing before him. Clearly in shock, he did nothing but gape in fear and astonishment as Honey marched up to him, grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and punched him hard in the face, knocking him to the ground.

For a moment, Honey did nothing as she looked at the young man's prone form. Then, turning back to her friends, she gripped her wrist with her other hand and whined in pain.

"Owwww," Honey groaned, "I didn't know punching someone hurt that much!"

The others could only laugh in reply as the crowd surrounding them let out a cheer. Looking around surprise, the girls watched as the gathered club-goers applauded for them.

"Yo yo yo!" the DJ yelled over the loudspeakers as the holographic images of the performers faded, "That was off the hook!"

"Well, I think this night has gone pretty good," Go Go commented as she crossed her arms and looked around, a wide grin plastered across her face.

"It might not stay that way," Violet said with a look of chagrin as she pointed past Go Go. Looking in the direction she indicated, Go Go saw a group of other bouncers helping Geon to his feet. Along with them, she noted a group of police officers had come into the club and were observing the aftermath of the fight. Eventually, their gazes turned towards the women, who looked uncomfortable as the weight of the officers' attentions fell on them.

"Soooo," Susan whispered, "We're in trouble, right?"

"Yeah," Go Go confirmed with a sigh as she ran a hand through her hair, "We're in trouble."

A/N: Like I said, I was able to get this one out faster than normal. This chapter was a blast to write, hope you guys enjoyed it! For those wondering, the songs in this chapter are "Into You" by Ariana Grande and "POP/STARS" by K/DA. As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	13. The Hangover

**Chapter 13: The Hangover**

Flashing red and blue lights illuminated the street outside _Chum_ as a handful of ambulances and police cruisers sat outside the club. A cordone had been set up around the entrance, with a number of the people who had been in the club idling on the far side of the police barrier, craning their necks to get a better look at what was happening. At that moment, one of the police officers was leading the young man who had accosted Honey and Susan out of the club in handcuffs, his face looking like one large, angry bruise.

"Miss?" the heavyset officer questioned, bringing Go Go's attention back to him.

"Sorry, what?" Go Go replied, blinking her thoughts clear and shifting her position as she leaned against the back of one of the ambulances.

"I asked if you really felt it was necessary to confront the suspect?" the police officer repeated, pen and notepad at the ready.

"He and his friends assaulted my cousin," Go Go replied, her tone growing indignant as she gestured at Geon, who was currently seated on the rear step of the ambulance, pressing an ice pack to the side of his head, "And who knows what that bastard wanted to do to my friends. I couldn't just sit there and do nothing."

"So you drop kicked him in the head?" the officer questioned, quirking an eyebrow at Go Go as he did.

"Well, when you put it that way," Go Go replied with a note of embarrassment as she crossed her arms, "Maybe I overreacted a little."

The police officer snorted at this and smirked at Go Go.

"Maybe," the officer agreed as she put away his notepad, "But if I had been in your shoes, I probably would have tazed the guy into next week."

"So, are we in trouble?" Go Go questioned hopefully.

"Everything we're hearing from the other witnesses seem to corroborate what you're saying, and I'm willing to bet the club's security cameras will as well," the officer replied with a shake of his head, "So no, I imagine we won't be dragging you and your friends downtown tonight."

"Thank you, officer," Go Go said with a smirk.

"Have a good night, miss," the officer replied to her with a nod before turning and walking away.

"How's your face?" Go Go questioned as she turned her attention to Geon.

"Could be worse," he replied as he lowered the ice pack and gave Go Go a sour look.

"What?" Go Go asked in confusion, "What did I do?"

"You said you wouldn't get in any fights," Geon answered.

"Hey, I tried to let you take care of it," Go Go argued, "Not my fault you couldn't handle it."

"I got jumped by like twelve guys!" Geon retorted indignantly.

"My friends and I handled them alright," Go Go replied with a smug smirk.

Geon replied by glaring at her, causing Go Go to sigh and roll her eyes.

"Fine, fine, sorry," Go Go relented, "I'll admit, things got kind of out of hand."

"It's fine," Geon replied with a shrug, "Those guys were bad news. Don't think management will hold it against any of us. You're lucky you know."

"Why's that?" Go Go questioned.

"The cops didn't card your friend," Geon explained as he gestured towards Violet, who was standing by another ambulance, talking to Honey, "Then we'd actually be in trouble."

"Guess you're right," Go Go confirmed with a sigh as she straightened up, "Anyway, I should probably be getting everyone home now. See you around, _sachon_."

"Hey, don't think I forgot about our deal!" Geon called after Go Go as she began walking away, "You still owe my some time working on my car!"

"Ugh, fine," Go Go groaned as her shoulders slumped, "You know how to find me."

Walking over to where Violet and Honey were, Go Go noticed the compression wrap on the taller woman's wrist.

"How's the hand?" Go Go questioned as she stopped next to the two.

"It's sore," Honey replied as she rubbed the wrap with her good hand, giving Go Go an annoyed look, "You could have warned me."

"Well, hey, you really needed to punch that guy in the face and I wasn't about to stop you," Go Go replied with a smirk, "If you want, I can train you a little so it doesn't, you know, hurt as much next time."

"Maybe," Honey replied as she looked away from Go Go. Letting out a small sigh, the shorter woman turned her attention towards Violet.

"What about you, Freshman?" Go Go inquired, "You come out okay?"

"For the most part," Violet replied, grimacing as she rubbed one of her arms, "I don't think this is what Dr. Leiber meant when she told me to take it easy though."

"Don't worry, you'll feel worse once the alcohol wears off," Go Go joked, earning a chuckle from Violet. Glancing away from the others, Violet spotted Susan standing nearby, an anxious look on her face.

"Hey Sue," Violet greeted, her expression turning perplexed, "Everything alright?"

"Y-Yeah!" Susan replied with a start as she stepped closer to them, "Everything is fine."

"You handled yourself pretty well in there," Go Go observed, "You said you were in the military?"

"Yeah, you know, good old combat training and all that," Susan answered with a clearly uncomfortable laugh before her gaze drifted towards Honey, "H-Hey."

"...Hey," Honey replied, gripping her elbow with her good hand and looking away from Susan.

Noticing this, Violet and Go Go shared a look before Go Go awkwardly coughed into her fist.

"So, yeah, I, uh, I think Violet and I are….are gonna just stand over there," Go Go said as she gestured behind her with her thumb before she and Violet slunk away, Susan and Honey never sparing them a glance.

"Soooooo," Susan began awkwardly as she stuck her sweaty hands into her pockets, "Tonight got pretty crazy, huh?"

"Yeah, I suppose it did," Honey answered quietly, still not looking at Susan as she spoke.

"Look….about what happened…." Susan mumbled, her cheeks turning red as she rubbed the back of her neck, "Before all the fighting…."

"I-It's fine," Honey quickly answered, finally raising her gaze to look at Susan.

"...It is?" Susan questioned, a look of confusion on her face.

"Of course," Honey replied with a smirk and a shrug, "We were just….caught up in the moment, you know?"

"...Caught up in the moment?" Susan repeated, clearly not understanding.

"Yeah," Honey confirmed with a nod, "We had a few drinks, we were dancing, we were trying to get rid of that jerk. We just got so caught up in everything and….accidents happen, you know?"

"Y-Yeah," Susan replied, looking somewhat shaken by the explanation, "I guess they do."

"Good," Honey said as she walked over and laid a hand on Susan's shoulder, "It was….It was nice to meet you, Susan."

"Yeah," Susan agreed as she hesitantly reached her hand up towards Honey's, "Same."

Before Susan could touch her though, Honey quickly pulled her hand away. Then, giving Susan one last, small, awkward smile, Honey turned and walked away, causing Susan to ball her hand up into a fist and place it against the side of her head before running a hand through her hair, not noticing as Honey's smile quickly fell away.

"Alright, I'm no relationship expert," Violet whispered to Go Go as they stood a short distance away, watching Honey approach them, "But I don't think that went well."

"Yeah, me either," Go Go sighed, "You think you can get Sue home alright?"

"She's crashing in my dorm room tonight, so yeah," Violet confirmed with a nod.

"Alright, well, you do that, I'll take care of Honey," Go Go explained, "I'll talk to you later, Freshman."

"Talk to you later," Violet confirmed as she made her way towards Susan.

As she made her way over to Susan, Violet gave Honey a small wave as they passed, earning only a small nod from the older woman in return.

"So," Go Go said as Honey reached her, "Enjoy your night out?"

"No," Honey replied coldly, not pausing as she walked right past Go Go, "I want to go home. This was a mistake."

"Yeah," Go Go muttered to herself as she rolled her head back and looked up at the night sky, "I was afraid you'd say something like that."

With that, Go Go turned and jogged to catch up with Honey, joining the taller woman as she made her way past the police barricade and down the street.

"Hey," Violet greeted as she stopped next to Susan.

"Hi," Susan replied with a sigh as she looked up at the younger woman.

"You ready to head back to my place?" Violet asked as she pointed her thumb behind her.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted," Susan confirmed with a nod, following along as Violet turned around and began walking away from the club.

"So," Violet said with an awkward expression, "How did your talk with Honey go?"

"Oh, it went fine, great even!" Susan answered with a nervous titter, "Absolutely great! Can't think of how it could have gone better."

 _Later_ ,

"Ugh, how could I be such an idiot!?" Susan groaned from her position on the floor of Violet's dorm room, "I'm twenty-six years old, I should be past the point where I'm drunkenly laying on a dorm room floor thinking about how much of a loser I am, shouldn't I?"

"As someone who's just entering that stage of her life, I wouldn't really know," Violet replied sardonically as she lay on her bed, looking at the ceiling, "Also, your only on the floor so you don't break my roommate's bed while she's out for the night."

"I'm sorry," Susan, now dressed in an oversized, olive green t-shirt with the words "Area 51" elmbalzoned across the front in black letters, sighed as she sat up, "I know it was kind of a rough night for you too. You probably just want to go to bed."

"No, it's fine," Violet, dressed in a black tank top and orange and grey checkered short shorts, replied as she rolled over to face Susan, propping her head up with her arm as she did, "Honestly, I think you'll probably be up all night thinking about it otherwise."

"Probably," Susan agreed as she sat up and adjusted the towel she had wrapped around her freshly washed hair.

"So, I guess we should start by addressing the elephant in the room," Violet stated, looking clearly unsure about how to broach the topic, "Are you….bisexual? Because I saw what happened tonight and I know you're into guys so…."

"What? No, no way," Susan answered quickly, shaking her head so violently that it dislodged the towel on her head.

At this, Violet quirked her eyebrow at Susan while making a face that made it clear she didn't believe the older woman. At this, an expression mixing confusion and panic set in on Susan's face.

"...Maybe?" Susan amended, before groaning, placing her face in her hands and laying back on the floor, her head hitting the pillow beneath her with a dull thump, "I don't know!"

"Have you ever been attracted to a girl before?" Violet inquired as she sat up on her bed.

"I don't think so," came Susan's muffled reply before she threw her hands up in exasperation, her voice quickly edging into panic, "But maybe I have! Maybe there's been a bunch of girls I've been into over my life and I just didn't realize it! I don't know what to think anymore!"

"Alright, maybe you need to take a deep breath and calm down a little," Violet said as she made what she hoped was a calming gesture.

"I am calm!" Susan snapped as she turned to glare at Violet while smacking the carpeted floor hard enough to that they both heard the floor underneath it crack a little. Susan looked at her hand with wide eyes for a moment before she gave Violet a sheepish smile.

"Sorry," Susan apologized, "Maybe I am getting a little bit worked up about this."

"I'm not surprised," Violet commented with a sigh, "It's not often you have to question firmly held beliefs about yourself."

"I guess," Susan concurred, though to Violet she looked helpless and lost.

"Look, maybe we can talk you through this?" Violet suggested, "What made you think of Honey in that way?"

"Well," Susan began thoughtfully, "I've always had a thing for tall guys and she's, you know…."

"She's pretty tall, yeah," Violet agreed with a laugh, "Which is hilarious to hear from you, by the way. What else?"

"I mean, she's like, super warm and bubbly," Susan went on as she ran a hand through her wet hair, a smile tugging at her lips, "Talking to her made me feel like I was wrapped in a warm blanket."

"Alright, I can see that," Violet said with a grin.

"Plus she's pretty," Susan continued as she sat up and leaned back against her hands, "Like, really pretty. I honestly get catching myself looking at her legs because she's got-"

"Okay, let's not make this weird," Violet interrupted as she narrowed her eyes at Susan.

"Sorry," Susan apologized, her face flushing with embarrassment, "I think the thing that really caught my attention was that I kept getting this….I don't know, this vibe from her that she was into it too."

"Really?" Violet questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

"Yeah," Susan confirmed with a nod, "I thought I saw her checking me out a couple of times, and then she held my hand at the table, and then when we were dancing…."

"Yeah, I saw you two dancing," Violet said, "She definitely seemed into it."

"She seemed pretty into the kiss too," Susan added before sighing, "I don't know, maybe I was just reading the whole thing wrong."

"What makes you say that?" Violet inquired.

"Well, after we stopped making out, but before that dude broke a bottle over my head, she seemed like she was, I don't know, starting to panic," Susan explained, her expression pensive, "And then when we talked afterwards, she blamed the whole thing on the alcohol and stuff. She basically denied it happened."

"Well, maybe she's going through the same thing you are right now?" Violet suggested, "I've never heard her or Go Go say that she's into girls. As far as I know, she's only ever dated guys. Maybe it was the realization that freaked her out, not anything you did."

"Maybe, I don't know," Susan replied with a shrug, sounding unconvinced, "Part of me wonders if it has something to do with her old boyfriend. You know about that, right?"

"Tadashi, the one who died in the fire?" Violet inquired, her expression turning sad, "Yeah, they told me about that."

"Maybe she wasn't ready to move on yet," Susan said before groaning, "In which case, I'm a gigantic asshole for pushing her like that."

"Oh, don't say that Susan," Violet lightly admonished, "I don't think you forced Honey to do anything she didn't at least somewhat want to do."

"I don't know," Susan replied, sighing as she lay back down on the floor, "I feel like I just made a royal mess out of this whole situation. You guys were bringing her out to cheer her up, and I just inserted myself into it and ruined everything."

"Sue, that's not true," Violet argued, her expression sad.

"If you say so," Susan replied as she rolled over so her back was facing Violet, "At least I won't have to face her ever again after tonight. Think I might die of shame if I ever laid eyes on her again."

"Right," Violet muttered as she lay down as well, an anxious expression on her face, "There's no way you'd ever see her again."

 _Meanwhile_ ,

Wasabi, dressed in a black t-shirt, and blue boxer shorts and laying on his bed, grumbled as noise from in his apartment woke him up. Raising his head, he watched through bleary eyes as Go Go stumbled through the door into the bed room, an exhausted and miserable expression on her face.

"Hey," Wasabi greeted sleepily as he rolled over so he could face Go Go better, "How'd girl's night go?"

"Terrible," Go Go grumbled as she kicked off her sneakers.

"Terrible?" Wasabi repeated in confusion, "What happened? What time is it anyway?"

"Late," Go Go answered with a sigh as she stripped off her pants and crawled into bed with Wasabi before she flopped face first onto a pillow, turning her head just enough so that she could keep talking to her boyfriend, "I needed to make sure Honey got home alright. She was pretty upset. Sorry for waking you up, by the way."

"It's fine," Wasabi answered with a shake of his head, "Why was Honey upset? What happened?"

"Well," Go Go began, pausing briefly to blow some of her hair out of her face, "We made it into _Chum_ alright and everything was going great until Honey got harassed by some douchebag, made out with Violet's friend Sue and then we ended up brawling with a bunch of drunk frat boys in the middle of the club."

"Wow, Geon must have loved that," Wasabi stated with an amused chuckle, "I remember the last time we…."

Wasabi trailed off as his sleep addled brain finally managed to latch onto one of the statements Go Go had just made.

"Wait, did you just say that Honey made out with some girl named Sue?" Wasabi questioned in confusion as he propped himself up on his elbow.

"That I did," Go Go confirmed, her eyes fluttering closed as she spoke.

"Wait what?" Wasabi asked, rising further upright as he spoke, "Since when does-"

"Please be quiet," Go Go interrupted as she reached up and pulled Wasabi back down onto the bed before draping herself across his chest, "I don't really want to go into the details right now, and you're going to need your rest anyway."

"Why am I going to need my rest?" Wasabi questioned as he instinctively wrapped his arm around Go Go's shoulder.

"Because I'm going to be hungover tomorrow and you're going to need to take care of me," Go Go mumbled into his chest.

"I mean, you woke me up and dropped this bombshell on me and now you expect me to just go back to sleep?" Wasabi inquired as he looked down at Go Go.

Go Go's only response was to snore lightly, having already fallen asleep.

Looking down at Go Go, Wasabi could only sigh and roll his eyes before laying his head back down on the pillow. At the end of the day, he supposed this was something that could wait until tomorrow.

A/N: I'm definitely on a roll this week! A quick chapter but it was nice getting to put a cap on the crazy events of the last few chapters. Now, on to even crazier events! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	14. Training Day

**Chapter 14: Training Day**

The sun shone bright over San Fransokyo as Riley made her way down the city sidewalk. Currently, she was dressed in a black tank top and capri-length black yoga pants, with white sneakers on her feet, a water bottle in her hand, and her hair pulled into a ponytail. Next to her, Baymax walked, his nubby feet squeaking on the pavement as he kept pace with her.

"So, how are you holding up this morning, Baymax?" Riley questioned as she looked up at the robot.

"My energy levels are fine for the moment," Baymax answered, "Though they will need to be recharged sometime today."

"Good to hear," Riley replied with a chuckle, "Thanks for hanging out with me and Tip last night."

"Spending time with you helps better increase my understanding of female children in your age range," Baymax stated, "This, in turn, improves my utility as a healthcare companion."

" _God, he's so weird sometimes_ ," Disgust commented.

" _Well, he is a robot,_ " Joy replied.

"Well, that's certainly one way to look at it," Riley commented with a chuckle and a shake of her head.

The two walked in silence for a moment, during which Baymax looked down at Riley, his head tilted to the side.

"Riley," Baymax said, drawing the girl's attention, "May I pose an inquiry?"

"Uh, yeah, sure Baymax," Riley replied as she looked up at the robot, "What's up?"

"When Hiro was experimenting with giving me an emotion chip, where my emotions real?" Baymax questioned.

"Where they real?" Riley repeated in confusion.

"Correct," Baymax confirmed, "As you possess empathic abilities, you are the most qualified individual to pose this question to."

"I suppose that's true," Riley agreed, though her voice sounded unsure, "And when Hiro put the emotion chip in you….I did sense something. So yeah, I would say they were real. Maybe a bit….incomplete, but definitely real."

"I understand," Baymax replied, "Are emotions always so ...unpleasant?"

" _Hey!_ " Anger barked.

"Well, they can be," Riley commented with a smirk, "But most of the time, no, they're not. I think the problem was that Hiro hadn't worked out the kinks yet. I'm sure they'll feel better the next time. That is, as long as you want to try it out again."

At this, Baymax fell silent for a few moments, blinking in a way that struck Riley as strangely pensive.

"I found emotions to be unpleasant," Baymax stated, "But if the sensations could be mitigated in some way, I do believe that possessing them will help me empathize with my patients."

"I find it comes in handy," Riley agreed with a smirk.

At this point, the two reached a small park that they immediately entered. Near the center of the park, situated on a small hill, was a lone willow tree, beneath which an elderly Asian man sat, dressed in a white karate _gi_ with a faded black belt and meditating in the lotus position. As Riley and Baymax climbed the hill towards him, the old man opened a single eye and smiled at them.

"Good morning, Riley," the old man greeted with a warm but gravelly voice as he rose to his feet.

"Good morning, Takahito- _sensei_ ," Riley replied as she bowed to the old man, prompting Baymax to as well.

"You must be Baymax," Takahito observed as he approached the robot with his arms folded behind his back, "Your friends have told me much about you. I understand that, in some ways, you are a student of mine as well."

"My karate and tai chi protocols are based off your movements," Baymax replied as he held his hands in a chopping position.

"Well, that certainly streamlines the teaching process," Takahito observed with a chuckle.

"No Wasabi today?" Riley questioned as she glanced around.

"No, Darron needed to take care of something," Takahito explained with a shake of his head as he turned towards Riley, "It appears that you will have my full attention this morning, Riley. Shall we begin?"

Nodding in reply, Riley tossed her water bottle onto the ground before she walked over to Takahito, who took a stance by spreading his legs shoulder-width apart and holding his right arm loosely up before him, the back of his hand facing Riley. Stopping in front of him, Riley mirrored Takahito's pose and placed the back of her wrist against the old man's. From there, the two began to move in unison, pushing their arms against one another and moving them back and forth in graceful, circular patterns.

After a few moments of this, Riley and Takahito switched to placing both of their arms against each others and moving them in a large vertical circle between them while at the same time they began circling each other, their timing keeping them perfectly in synch with each other. Then, without any words passing between them, Riley smoothly moved to the side, grabbing hold of Takahito's arm and using his momentum to pull the old man past her. Once past her, Takahito gracefully spun on his heel and grabbed hold of Riley's arm before performing the same move on Riley. Once Riley had moved past him, she spun back to face Takahito and they smoothly transitioned back into performing their circular movement.

Over the next few minutes, Riley and Takahito continued the elaborate dance, with the old man gently guiding the girl through various forms and moves. Eventually, sweat began to drip down Riley's face and her breath became ragged, at which point Takahito abruptly stopped.

"Why don't we take a break?" Takahito suggested as he folded his hands behind his back and smiled at her.

"Thank you, _sensei_ ," Riley replied breathlessly, giving Takahito a quick bow before settling onto the ground beneath the willow tree, grabbing her water bottle and taking a sip from it.

Smiling, Takahito turned his attention towards Baymax, who was standing nearby, examining a butterfly that had settled onto the finger of his outstretched hand.

"Baymax," Takahito stated, catching the robot's attention as the butterfly flitted away, "May I speak with you a moment?"

"Yes," Baymax said before walking over and standing in front of Takahito, "How may I assist you?"

"Perhaps you can show me just how extensive your understanding of tai chi is?" Takahito suggested.

"Due to the information I have downloaded, I have completely mastered the art of tai chi," Baymax stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, that is a claim that must be tested," Takahito observed as he walked over to the willow and picked up a long stick that was leaning against the tree trunk. Walking back over to Baymax, Takahito gripped the stick with both hands and pointed it at Baymax like a spear.

"Prepare yourself," Takahito said solemnly. In response, Baymax settled into a defensive stance, holding his hands out loosely before him, his palms facing Takahito.

A tense moment passed as Takahito stared into Baymax's black eyes, his stick at the ready. Then, without warning, he struck, thrusting the stick at Baymax's face. Baymax easily avoided the attack by leaning his head to the side, before mirroring the movement to dodge Takahito's follow-up attack. Takahito then attempted the same one-two attack against Baymax's chest, but the robot managed to dodge by leaning his shoulders out of the way of each blow. Seeing Takahito thrusting at his head again, Baymax ducked below the attack before standing up straight in a single fluid motion.

As Takahito picked up the speed of his attacks, Baymax began to wave his arms in front of him, pushing aside the old man's strikes as they came. As Baymax moved one of his thrusts to the side with both hands, Takahito changed direction and swung his stick at the robot's feet, forcing Baymax to hop over the attack. Seeing another thrust coming, Baymax attempted to grab the stick but Takahito used it to twist the robot's arm around his body before yanking it out of the android's grasp.

Seeing that Baymax was left somewhat off balance by the move, Takahito thrust the stick between the robot's feet before trying to swipe at one. In response to this, Baymax lifted the targeted foot over the attack before pivoting on his other one, spinning in place until he could place both feet back on the ground. Takahito followed up by swinging his stick at Baymax's head, which the robot avoided by bending over backwards. Takahito then swung the stick down at Baymax while he was bent over, forcing the robot to block the attack by crossing his arms in front of him.

The two stayed like that for a moment, with Takahito pressing the weight of the stick down against Baymax, with Riley watching with wide eyes. Then, moving his arms to the side, Baymax pushed the stick off of him as he stood up straight. However, Takahito had apparently predicted this and moved with the motion, using the momentum to swing the stick back around and knock Baymax's leg out from under him. As Baymax flipped into the air, Takahito spun around again before striking the robot with the stick as he fell. The blow knocked Baymax through the air before he landed on the ground and tumbled down the hill.

As Baymax reached the bottom of the hill and rolled to a stop, he lay on his back, looking up at the sky. A moment later, the view was obstructed by Hiro, who stood over Baymax, looking down at the robot in surprise.

"Whatcha doing, Baymax?" Hiro questioned.

"I am training in tai chi," Baymax explained.

"It looks like you're getting your butt kicked," Hiro commented with a smirk before he helped Baymax back to his feet, "You okay?"

"I am undamaged," Baymax replied as he began making his way back up the hill, Hiro falling into step next to him.

"Hey!" Riley greeted as Hiro and Baymax reached the top of the hill, standing up and walking over to them.

"Hey," Hiro replied, blushing as Riley leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

"Sorry, I'd hug you too but I'm kind of sweaty," Riley said with a chuckle, "What brings you here?"

"I know you and Wasabi are usually here on Sunday mornings," Hiro explained, "I wanted to come by to pick up Baymax and see what you were up to."

"Well, I still have some work to do with Takahito- _sensei_ , but I'll be free after that," Riley stated with a smirk, "He just got through teaching Baymax his own private lesson."

"It would appear that I still have more information to gather about tai chi," Baymax added.

"The first step towards wisdom is admitting that there is always something new to learn," Takahito said with a smile before he looked at Riley, "Are you ready to continue?"

"Yes, _sensei_ ," Riley answered with a nod.

"Well, I think I'll just settle in then," Hiro stated as he walked over to the willow tree and pulled a tablet out of his pocket, "I'll be over here, working on stuff, until you guys are done."

"Awesome," Riley agreed with a smile, "We should try to find the others afterwards. I'm really interested to find out how Honey and Go Go's girl's night went."

 _Later_ ,

"Ugh, is it just me, or are the lights in here way too bright?" Susan questioned, squinting her eyes as she and Violet made their way through the halls of Home Base.

"I think it's because you drank a little too much last night," Violet pointed out.

"Yeah, just another thing haunting me from last night," Susan groaned as she rubbed the side of her head and looked accusingly at Violet, "Why do you seem fine though?"

"Because I didn't dive in head first like you guys did," Violet argued, "It was my first time!"

"First time doing what?" Bob's voice came from around a corner before Violet's father stepped into view, causing her eyes to go wide.

"Uh, first time going out in San Fransokyo, seeing the big city and all that," Violet answered with a nervous chuckle.

Quirking an eyebrow at this, Bob turned his attention towards Susuan.

"Did you guys have a good time last night?" Bob inquired.

"Sure, let's go with that," Susan replied with another pained expression, "Look, I'd love to stay and chat, Bob, but I was hoping to just go to my room and…."

"Sorry, Susan," Bob interrupted with a helpless shrug, "But that's a no can do."

"Why's that?" Susan inquired, a feeling of dread worming its way into her heart.

 _Later_ ,

"Oh God, kill me now," Susan groaned, now dressed her black and orange jumpsuit with her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Together with Link, Doc, and B.O.B., she stood in the large training room. Across from them, Violet, now dressed in her Ultraviolet costume, stood with Lucius and her family. The rest of the Parrs wore unitards similar to Violet's own, though theirs were red instead of purple and sported yellow, lower-case Is on the chest. Lucius also wore a unitard, though his was white and frosty blue in color, white white gloves and boots. In place of a domino mask, Lucius wore a white cowl complete with an opaque eyeshield. Megamind and Minion, meanwhile, stood somewhat awkwardly to the side.

"Okay, so, we've been getting a feel for each other since we all got pulled together for this team," Bob spoke as he looked around at the others, though he seemed to pointedly not glance at Megamind, "But I think it's time we dive in on this thing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Link questioned.

"It means that we're going to have a little scrimmage," Helen explained, "A little sparring match to show off what we can do."

"Oh boy!" B.O.B. exclaimed before looking at his friends, "What's that mean?"

"It means we're going to fight each other," Doc explained.

"But you know, for fun," Link added with a chuckle.

"So, how does this work?" Susan inquired as she rubbed the side of her head, "Is this just some kind of free-for-all?"

"Well, we also want everyone to get a sense of how well we work with one another," Lucius elaborated, "So, the Parrs and I will be on one side, and you guys will be on the other."

"But there are six of you but four of us," B.O.B. argued as he held up three fingers.

"When we say "you guys", we mean all of you guys," Helen explained as she motioned for Megamind and Minion to join the others.

"Oh, yes, of course," Megamind said with an embarrassed chuckle before he and Minion moved over to the monsters' side, "There, even sides."

"Okay, let's get started then. Now, let's have some fun with this," Helen said before looking pointedly at Bob, "And try not to hurt each other."

Bob said nothing in reply, staring at Megamind, who had the good sense to gulp nervously.

"Alright, so how are we gonna-" Link began to say before Dash checked him in the chest at superspeed, knocking the monster off his feet and sending him tumbling across the floor.

"Ow, okay, wow!" Dash exclaimed as he hopped up and down and rubbed his shoulder in pain, "He's way thicker than I expected!"

"You could at least let me shield you before you do that!" Violet exclaimed as she threw her hands into the air in exasperation.

"I was trying to catch them by surprise!" Dash argued as he looked back at Violet.

"Surprise!" B.O.B. exclaimed as he leapt towards Dash, his mouth open wide.

His eyes wide with surprise, Dash watched as B.O.B. descended through the air towards him. Right before the blob landed on him though, B.O.B. slammed into a shimmering purple dome of energy that appeared around Dash, splattering against it like a bug against a windshield.

"See," Violet chided, one her hands outstretched towards her brother as B.O.B. slid down the side of the dome, "Shield."

Dash's only response was to roll his eyes before Violet lowered the shield and he sped away.

"Well, that was a little bit embarrassing," B.O.B. muttered as he pulled himself back together.

"Hey, you mind if I perform a little experiment?" Lucius inquired.

Looking up, B.O.B. saw that Lucius was currently sliding along a path made of ice, which was being formed by a ray of white energy that was shooting from the man's outstretched hand.

"Uh, yeah sure," B.O.B. replied.

"Cool," Lucius said before pointing his other hand at B.O.B. and blasting him with a ray of cold energy, instantly freezing the blob solid, "Was curious about what your freezing point was."

"B.O.B.!" Susan called out in surprise before her attention was grabbed by Bob charging towards her.

"Sorry, big guy," Susan muttered before pushed a button on her watch and was surrounded by an aura of blue energy "But I don't have time to spar right now."

Rapidly growing to her full height, Susan pulled her foot back before booting Bob in the chest with her giant foot, knocking him clear off his feet and sending him flying through the air.

"Bob!" Helen called as she tracked his trajectory through the air. Her eyes narrowed in concentration, Helen reached out towards Bob, her arms extending impossibly long as she did. Reaching Bob, Helen grabbed him before pulling back hard, completely stopping his forward momentum. Still holding onto her husband, Helen then pivoted her stance, swinging Bob through the air before hurling him back towards Susan. Reorienting himself, Bob curled up into a ball before he slammed into the shocked Susan's stomach, the impact of the blow sending her stumbling back as the air was forced out her lungs.

"Alright, okay!" Link called as he picked himself up off the ground and brushed himself off, "Don't anyone worry! I'm oooo…"

Link trailed off as he caught sight of Susan falling towards him as she lost her footing.

"No," Link finished quietly, his eyes going wide before Susan fell on top of him with a booming thud.

"Well," Doc sighed as he looked around, "This is going well. Got any ideas?"

"Uh, Minion!" Megamind called out as he looked at his companion, "Get in there!"

"Um, o-okay," Minion replied, squaring his shoulders before hustling forward.

Minion made it a few feet before Jack-Jack suddenly hopped in front of the alien, holding his hands up, playfully roaring at Minion with a fierce expression on his face. Confused, Minion came to a stop and regarded Jack-Jack as the child roared at him again.

"Um, roar?" Minion replied, holding his hands up in an imitation of what Jack-Jack was doing.

In response, Jack-Jack suddenly let out a deeper, beastial roar. As he did, Jack-Jack's form began to shift, becoming more muscular as he grew almost double in size and his skin took on an angry, red color, his unitard stretching to contain his new bulk. Jack-Jack's eyes became red as well, while his teeth became pointed and his fingernails extended into claws. Letting out another roar, Jack-Jack lunged at Minion, who screamed in alarm as the monstrous child tackled him to the ground.

Doc and Megamind watched the struggle for a moment, the alien cringing as Jack-Jack managed to tear one of Minion's arms off.

"Got any other ideas?" Doc questioned off handedly.

"We need to regroup," Megamind replied, a pensive look on his face, "You get B.O.B., I'll get Minion!"

Running forward, Megamind grabbed hold of Jack-Jack, who was in the process of beating Minion with his robotic arm, before hurling the rampaging child away away, causing the artificial limb to clatter to the floor.

"Whoa!" Jack-Jack yelled, transforming back into his normal self as he tumbled through the air. Seeing this, Helen reached out and enlarged her hand, snagging her son out the air and pulling him over to her.

"Sir, did you just throw that child?" Minion asked in surprise as Megamind helped him back to his feet.

"He's a superpowered child who just ripped your arm off," Megamind replied as he shoved the limb in question into Minion's grasp, "I think he'll be fine."

"Did you just throw my son!?" Bob angrily demanded as he began stomping towards Minion and Megamind.

"But we won't be!" Minion exclaimed before they both ran away from the charging man.

"Doctor Cockroach!" Megamind called as they ran over to where Doc was trying to figure out how to thaw out B.O.B., "Help!"

Turning to look at Minion and Megamind, Doc's eyes went wide as he spotted Bob running after them, before throwing his arms into the air helplessly. Skidding to a halt next to Doc and B.O.B., Megamind and Minion looked back at Bob with fear in their eyes. However, right before Bob could reach them, Susan's hand slammed down between them, cupping her teammates protectively.

"Sorry, pal," Link said as he vaulted over Susan's hand and flipped over Bob's head, "We need a team meeting."

Landing behind Bob, Link grabbed the large man before he could react and threw him away, sending Bob tumbling across the floor.

"Okay, so I think we really need a plan here," Link said as he scrambled up Susan's hand and looked down at his teammates within, "So, it would be great if you eggheads came up with one!"

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Megamind glanced around, his eyes quickly flitting between the still Frozen B.O.B., the raygun in a holster on his hip, and the watch on Susan's wrist. Then, all at once, in all clicked into place for him.

"Idea!" Megamind declared loudly, "Susan, your watch!"

Looking at Megamind in confusion, Susan quickly unstrapped her watch with her free hand and pushed a button on the side before letting it drop, the watch shrinking to its normal size as it fell and landing in Megamind's outstretched hand.

"Alright, team meeting over!" Lucius shouted as he skated over to the group and blasted Susan's hand with a ray of cold.

Hissing in pain, Susan quickly pulled her hand back as she stood up straight. Growling in frustration, Susan glared at Lucius before she pulled her hand back to swing at him. Her swing was stopped though as Helen reached up and wrapped her rubbery arms around Susan's while Bob grabbed his wife by the legs, the two of them using their combined strength to hold the giantess in place. Blinking in surprise, Susan turned towards Bob and Helen and tried to use her other hand to grab at the woman, but Helen used her other arm to grasp it and tie the giantess' two hands together, leaving her trapped. As she struggled against Bob and Helen's grasp, Lucius skated up to Susan and blasted her feet with cold, cause ice to begin forming around her shoes.

"Susan's in trouble!" Link shouted as he ran over to the others.

Suddenly, a shimmering dome appeared around the group.

"I think we might be as well," Doc stated, before he looked over to where the Parr children were standing.

"Got them!" Violet declared, both hands extended toward the group.

"Okay, Jack-Jack," Dash said standing next to Violet with his brother in his arms, "Let's finish them with the old Phase Rush!"

"Go go go!" Jack-Jack agreed before Dash began running towards the group.

"What are they…." Link began to say before Dash and Jack-Jack were surrounded by a green aura and they passed through the barrier. For a split-second, the aura disappeared from around the two brothers, allowing Dash to slam into Link at full speed, knocking him off his feet. As Link slammed against Violet's barrier, the aura surrounded Dash and Jack-Jack again, allowing them to pass through the force field unharmed.

"Okay," Link groaned as he picked himself up off the ground, "That hurt."

"They're circling around!" Minion shouted as he watched Dash start to make his way back, "What do we do!?"

Looking over at Minion, Doc quickly focused on the alien's severed arm.

"I can take care of the barrier!" Doc declared.

"And I can take care of the boys," Megamind replied as he pulled out his raygun.

Acting quickly, Doc grabbed hold of Minion's arm and began fiddling with it. After a moment, sparks began shooting from the severed end. Turning his attention towards the dome, Doc narrowed his eyes as he studied it for a moment, his eyes tracing some unseen pattern. Then, with a quick thrust, he slammed the sparking end against the dome, sending a jolt of electricity through the whole thing.

"Ow!" Violet exclaimed, pulling her arms back to her chest as if she had been shocked as the dome suddenly disappeared. At the same time, Megamind fiddled with his raygun before he found the setting he was looking for, pointed it B.O.B., and pulled the trigger. A red flash of light shot out of the gun, and struck B.O.B., instantly thawing the blob.

"Happy birthday!" B.O.B. declared, looking around with a big, goofy grin.

"Link! Minion!" Megamind shouted as he pointed at B.O.B., "Grab an arm and pull!"

Acting quickly, Minion grabbed hold of B.O.B.'s right arm while Link nabbed the blob's left before they pulled him in opposite directions just as Dash and Jack-Jack reached them. Caught off guard by the maneuver, the brothers were still tangible as they slammed into B.O.B., the impact stretching the blob like a trampoline. Then, after a moment of tension, B.O.B. snapped back into place, sending Dash and Jack-Jack flying backwards. Her eyes going wide in surprise, Violet could do nothing but watch as her brothers flew through the air before slamming into her, knocking all three siblings to the floor.

"That was weird," B.O.B. commented as he cleared his head with a shake while the others released his arms.

"Doctor Cockroach!" Megamind called before he tossed Susan's watch towards the man, "Take this!"

"What do you want me to do with this?" Doc questioned in confusion as he caught the watch.

"You'll figure it out!" Megamind replied before gesturing for the others to follow him, "Now come on!"

At this, Doc looked around at the others for help but only received a helpless shrug from Link. Sighing in annoyance, Doc followed after Megamind, prompting Link, Minion and B.O.B. to as well.

His raygun drawn, Megamind aimed it at the ice covering Susan's feet as he ran. Megaman fired off a shot, destroying the ice in a single blast and letting Susan adjust her footing. Seeing this, Lucius turned his attention towards the group and began skating over to them.

"Minion!" Megamind called over his shoulder while pointing at Lucius, "Throw B.O.B.!"

"Yes, sir!" Minion answered before turning around and grabbing B.O.B. with his one good arm. Spinning in place, Minion hammer tossed B.O.B. at Lucius, the blob yelling in surprise as he was launched into the air. Spotting Lucius, B.O.B. smiled as he spread his mass wide like a net.

"You never told me what the experiment was f-!" B.O.B. yelled but was interrupted as Lucius blasted him again, freezing him solid. Lucius smirked at the sight before his expression morphed to one of surprise as the frozen blob continued falling towards him. Lucius picked up his pace to avoid the falling B.O.B. but was sent flying as the blob smashing into the ice slide directly behind the man. Letting out a cry of surprise, Lucius flew through the air end over end before landing hard on his back in a shower of ice shards.

"Doctor!" Megamind called before he spun around mid run and tossed his raygun to Doctor Cockroach.

"Are you just handing me everything!?" Doc demanded as he caught the raygun, "What do you want me to…."

Doc trailed off as he noticed what setting the raygun had been placed in. Looking back at Megamind, he caught the alien giving him a knowing wink before he continued towards where Bob and Helen where still grappling with Susan, Link at his side.

Seeing the pair coming, Bob smirked before adjusting his grip so that he was holding Helen's legs with one hand. As the duo reached him, Bob threw a backhand at Megamind, but the alien managed to duck the attack. Before Bob could pull his fist back, Link leapt forward and wrapped both of his arms around the larger man's using all of his strength to hold the limb in place.

"Ollo, Mr. Incredible," Megamind greeted as he pulled a thin, metal prong from his belt and held it up for Bob to see, "Remember this?"

"Don't you-" Bob began to snarl before Megamind jabbed the prong into his arm, sending spasms of pain through the limb and causing him to grunt in discomfort as his hand automatically released Helen's legs. Letting out a cry of surprise, Susan stumbled back a few steps as the resistance she was fighting against suddenly vanished. Regaining her footing, Susan thrashed her arms to the side, the whiplash forcing Helen to release her grip on the giantess' hands and sending her flying through the air before she crashed against one of the walls.

Snarling in frustration, Bob sent Link flying with a single, violent swing of his arm. The limb free, Bob smacked the prong out of Megamind's hand before wrapping his fingers around the alien's throat and lifting him a foot off the ground, causing Megamind to choke and sputter as he clawed hopelessly at Bob's hand.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," Bob whispered with a savage grin as he clenched his free hand into a fist and cocked it back.

"Sorry, Bob, but I've got one more trick up my sleeve," Megamind wheezed as he smirked at Bob, "Or, should I say, on your shoulder?"

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Bob glanced at his shoulder before doing a double take as he saw a miniature sized Doctor Cockroach standing there. As Bob stared at him, Doc waved, Megamind's raygun in one hand, before touching the watch, causing him to grow back to his full height in a flash of blue light, balancing on Bob's broad shoulders.

"My, isn't this a surprise!" Doc laughed before hopping into the air, pointing the raygun directly downwards and pulling the trigger. Then, in a flash of light, both Bob and Megamind vanished and were replaced by a pair of two tiny cubes that Doc snagged out of the air as he landed on the floor.

"Haha!" Doc laughed as he held the cubes up in triumph, "I can't believe that worked!"

"Yeah," Link agreed as he walked up next to Doc and looked at the cubes, "But how do we get them back?"

The question seemed to catch Doc off guard and he blinked in surprise as he looked around the room as everyone recovered from the fight.

"Does anyone have a cup of water?"

A/N: Another fun chapter to write, was nice to stretch my superhero action muscles again. Hope you guys liked it as well! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	15. Waiting on Superman

**Chapter 15: Waiting on Superman**

A few minutes later, the group stood at the center of the large room in a circle around Doctor Cockroach, who held the two cubes that were once Megamind and Mr. Incredible, and a styrofoam cup filled with water. Carefully, Doc set the cup on the floor before holding the cubes above it. Dropping them, Doc took a few steps backwards as the cubes fell into the cup with a small plop. Almost instantly, the cup split apart and Megamind and Mr. Incredible reappeared, looking a little damp, but otherwise unharmed.

"Well, I don't think I'll ever get used to that sensation," Megamind commented as he shook his head clear before smiling at Doc, who handed the alien his laser gun back, "Well done, Doctor. I'd say that went off without a hitch."

Bob, for his part, took a moment longer to recollect his wits. Once he had however, his attention focused on Megamind as his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What the hell did you just do to me!?" Bob snapped as he stepped forward and grabbed Megamind by the front of his jumpsuit before lifting the alien off his feet so that the two of them were eye to eye.

"Just a little dehydration," Megamind explained with a nervous titter, "No permanent harm done, I assure you."

"Oh, like I'm going to believe a word from a rat like you!" Bob snarled as the rest of the group looked on nervously.

"Bob, that's enough!" Helen said firmly as she stepped towards her husband.

"No!" Bob retorted as he turned to look at Helen, "I've tried, I really have, but I just can't do it!"

Turning his gaze back towards Megamind, Bob glared daggers at the alien.

"I can't work with the person who murdered Metro Man!" Bob declared hotly.

A silence fell over the room as Bob's words echoed off the walls and Megamind's expression morphed into one of annoyed confusion.

"Is that what this has been about?" Megamind questioned quietly.

"Of course it is!" Bob replied hotly, "What else would it possibly be about!?"

"I always thought that this was just a general lingering resentment towards my old villain days," Megamind explained, his tone terse, "Something that we could work through over time. But I can see now that there has been a fundamental misunderstanding."

"What the hell does that mean!?" Bob demanded.

"I did not kill Metro Man," Megamind answered cooly, "I tried many times, but I can assure you that I never succeeded."

The revelation stunned the group, and for a moment, Bob could only blink in surprise before his expression morphed into one of rage.

"Oh, you lying sack of-" Bob began as he pulled one fist back to throw a punch.

"That's enough, Bob!" Dicker's voice rang out in the echoing room, cutting Bob off and causing him to pause.

Looking over, the group spotted Dicker entering the room with his hands in his pockets, flanked by Lucy and Mirage.

"No, Rick, I've had enough of this guy," Bob said as he pointed a finger at Megamind, who glared back at him, "I can't work with someone who's willing to tell bold faced lies like that!"

"He's not lying, Bob," Dicker stated firmly, "He didn't kill Metro Man."

"Wait, he didn't?" Lucy muttered to Mirage, who rolled her eyes in response.

"Okay, hold up," Lucius spoke up, holding up his hands for emphasis, "If Megamind didn't kill Metro Man, who did?"

"No one did," Dicker answered, "His death was faked."

A look of shock passed over most of the group's face at this, and Bob dropped Megamind in surprise.

"He's alive!?" Bob exclaimed as he turned to fully face Dicker while Megamind straightened his jumpsuit, "What happened!? Is he joining the team!?"

"That won't be happening, Bob," Dicker answered with a shake of his head.

"Why not?" Helen asked as her brow furrowed in confusion, "For that matter, who faked his death?"

At this, Dicker sighed, looking extremely hesitant to provide the answer.

"He did," Megamind answered, his gaze focused on his feet.

"What did you just say?" Bob questioned in confusion as he turned his attention back towards Megamind.

"I said, Metro Man faked his own death," Megamind answered, lifting his now hardened gaze to meet Bob's.

"That….That doesn't make any sense," Bob replied with a shake of his head, turning his attention back to Dicker, "Why would the world's greatest superhero fake his death?"

"Bob, I'm going to be honest with you," Dicker said evenly, "This isn't a road you want to go down."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" Bob demanded, his voice becoming heated, "Metro Man was….is a friend of mine, and I want to know what the hell is going on!"

"Take us to him," Megamind spoke up, and when Dicker looked over at the alien, he was surprised by the hardened expression he found looking back at him.

"Excuse me?" Dicker questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

"I know you know where he is," Megamind said, "So get us a transport and take us to Metro Man."

"Last time I checked, I don't take orders from you," Dicker replied, his tone annoyed.

"Look," Megamind stated through gritted teeth, "You want this whole superhero team to work, don't you?"

After a moment, Dicker reluctantly nodded his head.

"Well, I might not know a lot about this sort of thing, but I know enough that it's not going to work if we can't work together," Megamind explained, his voice becoming more heated as he went, "And it has become patently obvious to me that Mr. Incredible and I won't be able to work together while he believes I'm guilty of a crime I didn't commit. The only way this is going to work is if he knows the whole truth."

A quiet moment passed as Dicker stared at Megamind, the alien's gaze never wavering.

"Agent Wilde," Dicker finally said, "Get a transport prepped for Megamind and Mr. Incredible."

"Uh, yes, sir," Lucy replied, blinking in surprise, "Right away."

Dicker merely nodded in reply, while Mirage shrugged helplessly as Lucy shot her a questioning look before making her way out of the room.

"You had better be right about this," Dicker said sternly before glancing at Bob, "And don't say I didn't warn you."

With that, Dicker turned and followed Lucy out of the room, Mirage falling into step behind him.

"Well, Bob," Megamind said, glancing over his shoulder as he began to follow Dicker out of the room, "Looks like we have a plane to catch."

Bob watched Megamind walk away for a moment, his eyes narrowing before moving to follow the alien. He was stopped short, however, when he felt a hand placed on his shoulder and turned to find Helen standing next to him, a concerned look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Bob questioned.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Helen inquired, "I think Megamind is being straight with you, but everything he and Rick keep saying makes it sound like there's something not right with this situation."

"Honey, all I know is that a friend of mine who I thought was dead is actually alive," Bob replied earnestly, "I need to see what's going on here."

"Okay, just….be careful and try to keep an open mind," Helen said with a sigh, "If nothing else, this proves that Megamind wasn't the person you thought he was."

"We'll see," Bob replied doubtfully before he headed towards the exit.

"Sir, your image inducer," Minion said as he fell into step next to Megamind and handed him a wristwatch-like device, "I imagine you don't want to draw attention to yourself on this trip."

"Thank you, Minion," Megamind replied as he took the watch and put it on his wrist without slowing his step.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, but are you sure this is a good idea?" Minion questioned, a nervous expression on his face.

"Not at all, Minion," Megamind replied, shaking his head as he exited the room, "Not at all."

 _Later,_

On the outskirts of Metro City, sitting on a solitary highway across from an overgrown and disused field, was a bar. It was far from the nicest bar that either Bob or Megamind had ever seen, with faded paint on the walls and a roof that was missing more than a few shingles. The parking lot was nothing more than gravel, and since it was the middle of the day on a Sunday, there were barely any cars parked outside. A currently unlit neon sign hanging above the door proclaimed this to be "The King's."

"You sure this is the right place?" Bob questioned as he looked over at Megamind. Currently, Bob was dressed in a grey polo under a black jacket, with the ends of the polo tucked into the waist of his blue jeans, with a pair of brown loafers completing the outfit.

"Yeah, this is the place," Megamind answered with a sigh, not taking his eyes off of the sign hanging above the bar's door. Megamind, for his part, appeared completely different, looking like a normal human man with a Caucasian complexion, and brown hair. He wore a brown jacket over a white t-shirt, along with khaki slacks and a pair of white sneakers. A pair of thick glasses with black, square rims sat over his still green eyes.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Megamind asked doubtfully as he turned his gaze towards Bob.

"You ask that after we've already come all the way here?" Bob questioned in reply, his expression incredulous, "This was your idea! I swear, if you're jerking me around…."

"I know, I know," Megamind replied, holding his hands up in front of him, "It's just, as much as I want to prove I'm not a murderer, Dicker was right. You're not going to like this."

"Alright, I'm officially done with all this beating around the bush," Bob said as glared down at Megamind, "Just take me to Metro Man."

Megamind looked at Bob for a single, quiet moment before sighing and gesturing for the large man to follow him. Nodding in return, Bob followed along as Megamind turned his attention back to the bar and headed for the entrance.

The inside of the bar was similar to the outside, with hardwood floors that looked like they hadn't been cleaned in a decade and walls decorated with peeling paint and faded pictures. The lights hanging from the ceiling provided only dim illumination, which seemed to fit the handful of patrons scattered about at the bar's various tables just fine. Along the wall opposite the door was the bar itself, while to the right was a small stage on which sat a single stool in front of a microphone.

"Buy you a drink?" Megamind offered with a hopeful smile as he made his way over to the bar.

"It's eleven in the morning," Bob countered as he followed.

"Not stopping him," Megamind replied as he nodded towards a man laying passed out on one of the tables, "Besides, I think you're going to need it."

Bob said nothing in reply, looking at the man in concern as they passed.

"What do you want?" the sour-looking man behind the bar asked as they approached.

"Just give us two of whatever the cheapest thing you've got on tap is, my good man," Megamind replied, fishing his wallet out of his pants as the bartender nodded and went to work, "Say, when does the entertainment come on?"

"Girls don't come on until tonight, pal," the bartender answered as he filled up a clearly dirty glass with amber-colored beer, "You'll have to get your jollies elsewhere."

"That's fine," Megamind replied with a shake of his head and a good natured laugh, "I meant your morning entertainment anyway."

"The singer?" the bartender asked with a laugh as he placed the pair of drinks in front of Bob and Megamind, "You're here to see that guy?"

"That's what you pay him for, isn't it?" Megamind questioned in return as he handed the bartender some cash, "To bring in customers?"

"Yeah, but this is the first time that investment has paid off," the bartender answered, taking Megamind's money with a chuckle, "He should be on in a bit. I'm sure you'll enjoy the show."

As the bartender moved away from them, Megamind sat on a stool, prompting Bob to as well.

"What the hell are we doing?" Bob hissed at Megamind.

"You'll see," Megamind replied with an awkward grimace as he took a sip of his beer.

Bob looked ready to argue but was interrupted as a barely functional spotlight turned on above the stool on the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" a bold, masculine voice declared over the bar's subpar sound system, "Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for! So let's give a warm welcome to your morning's entertainment. Let's hear it for Wayne Scott, the Music Man!"

With that, a man trotted out of a doorway near the stage, waving to a crowd that was largely paying him no mind. He was a roughly middle-aged man who stood only slightly shorter than Bob with a physique like a professional bodybuilder. He had shaggy black hair that had gone grey at the temples and a trimmed beard that covered his square jaw. He wore a white leather jacket with gold trim and tassels on the sleeves, along with a matching pair of pants and boots. He carried a similarly colored guitar in one hand and scanned the bar with bright blue eyes.

Seeing the man, a look of utter shock plastered itself across Bob's face, his jaw dropping lower and lower as he stared at the musician with wide eyes. Megamind, on the other hand, was less phased.

"Yeah!" Megamind called out, a clearly forced excitement in his voice as he swung a hand above his head in a show of enthusiasm, "I love you Music Man!"

"And I love you, random-" the musician began to reply as he pointed towards Megamind, his voice clearly the same one that had been speaking over the sound system a moment before, before freezing mid-sentence as he caught sight of him and Bob. For a moment, the musician, Wayne, did nothing but stare in shock, still pointing as Megamind gave him an awkward wave while Bob continued to openly gape at him.

"Um, actually folks, I'm going to need a few minutes before I start my set, if that's alright with you," Wayne said as he looked out over the crowd.

Receiving absolutely no response, Wayne leaned his guitar against the stool on stage and made his way over to where Bob and Megamind sat.

"H-Hey guys!" Wayne greeted with a nervous chuckle, his eyes darting back and forth between Megamind and Bob, "H-How's it going?"

There was an awkward pause as Bob continued to stare at Wayne, while Megamind looked between them before he nervously cleared his throat.

"It's going pretty good," Megamind said, "Just wanted to….check up on you, you know?"

"And you brought Bob with you?" Wayne questioned through the gritted teeth of his forced smile.

"Well," Megamind replied as he looked over his shoulder at Bob, who was still staring at Wayne, "Bob was hoping to….catch up, you know?"

"Is, uh, that true, Bob?" Wayne said as he turned his attention towards the man in question, "You want to grab a table and….and catch up?"

The question seemed to snap Bob out of his shock and his expression turned into a neutral, unreadable mask.

"Sure," Bob said coldly, pausing to drain his entire glass of beer in a single gulp, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before continuing, "Let's do that."

With that, Bob set his glass down hard on the bar before standing up and making his way over to an empty, round table near the back of the room. As he left, Wayne shot a worried glance towards Megamind, who offered a helpless shrug in reply as he moved to follow Bob, prompting the musician to do the same.

A few moments later, the three men were situated in chairs around the table, Wayne almost seeming to wither under Bob's cold glare.

"So, wow, Bob, it's been awhile, huh?" Wayne said, finally breaking the silence as he gave the blonde a friendly smile, "I think the last time we saw each other was….what…."

"My wedding," Bob answered, his tone hard.

"Right, right, of course," Wayne agreed with a nervous chuckle, "Wow, that feels like forever ago. Must have been what now, eight or nine years?"

"Twenty," Bob corrected.

There was another awkward pause as Wayne digested this information.

"Wow, it really has been awhile, huh?" Wayne said in genuine surprise, "You and uh, Helen still together?"

"Yeah, that tends to be how marriages work," Bob answered curtly.

"Well, you never know in this day and age, right?" Wayne joked with a chuckle.

Bob said nothing in reply to this, causing Wayne's laughter to awkwardly taper off.

"So, uh, got any kids?" Wayne questioned.

"Three," Bob all but grunted.

Another awkward silence fell over the table.

"Look, Bob, I get that I should have made a bigger effort to stay in contact with you," Wayne said meekly.

"No, it's fine, I understand," Bob retorted with a shrug of his massive shoulders, "Or, at least I thought I did."

"What do you mean?" Wayne questioned in confusion.

"I mean for all those years, I wrote it off, thinking "Well, of course he can't contact me. Even if I wasn't basically living under witness protection, hiding from lawsuits that no one ever aimed at him, he was too busy out there, fighting the good fight because all the lawyers and the politicians couldn't do anything to stop him,"" Bob said with a shrug, "And then, well, you died, and obviously, without a ouija board handy, we wouldn't be able to talk at all, which was also understandable. But then I'm told you're still alive and when I come to see you…."

At this point, Bob seemed to run out of words and he simply gestured at Wayne with both hands.

"What is this, Wayne?" Bob questioned after a moment, a hopeful tone starting to creep into his voice, "Are you….Are you undercover or something? Has this got to do with Enigma?"

"Enigma?" Wayne asked in reply, "Bob, I don't know what you're talking about. This is my job."

"Your job?" Bob echoed in confusion.

"Well, every singer has to start somewhere," Wayne explained with a chuckle, "The point is that this is but my first step towards my ultimate goal of bringing my music to the world."

There was a painfully long pause as Bob's expression turned cold and bitter.

"So, let me get this straight," Bob said, his voice somehow a whisper on the verge of a shout, "You're pretending to be dead so that you can quit being a superhero and be a singer instead?"

As yet another silence fell over the table, Wayne's eyes widened as he realized he had made a mistake.

"I think I'm going to go," Megamind mumbled as he started to rise from his seat.

"Sit. Down," Bob hissed, never taking his eyes off Wayne.

Meekly, Megamind sank back into his chair.

"Bob, I understand that you're upset…." Wayne began to say in a low voice.

"I'm not upset," Bob interrupted, "I'm disgusted."

"What?" Wayne questioned, clearly taken aback by the response.

"You know as well as I do that people like us have a duty to help those in need," Bob snarled as he pointed an accusatory finger at Wayne, "And you just gave up on that because….?"

"It….It was all getting too tiresome, too samey," Wayne mumbled, clearly not proud of the answer.

"So people died because you had a midlife crisis," Bob surmised, making a face as if the words left a bad taste in his mouth.

"That….That's not it at all, Bob!" Wayne argued weakly, "I'm following my passion!"

"Oh please, Wayne, I've been where you are, I know it when I see it," Bob replied with a dismissive snort, "Nobody died when I went through it though."

"What….What are you talking about?" Wayne questioned, his face going pale.

"Oh come on, don't be naive," Bob spat as he gestured at Megamind, "Not everyone we dealt with was like him. Other supervillains didn't treat this like some ridiculous game, something I think you encouraged way more than you should have, to be honest."

"I-I didn't treat what he and I did like a game!" Wayne argued as he pointed at Megamind, who was slowly shrinking in on himself.

"Of course you did!" Bob snapped, "And then, eventually, you got bored, took your ball and went home. And you want to know what happened? People died!"

Wayne said nothing in response, stunned by Bob's growing ferocity.

"He went looking for some kind of replacement, and ended up giving superpowers to a psychopath!" Bob ranted before a look of horrible understanding, "My God, and you were there when it was happening, weren't you. You saw that monster tearing apart Metro City and you just let it happen!"

"Megamind-" Wayne started to argue.

"Megamind wouldn't have had to do anything if you had been there!" Bob shouted, drawing the attention of the rest of the people in the bar, "None of it would have happened if you hadn't been so goddamn selfish!"

"Bob," Megamind said meekly, trying to keep the other man calm as he glanced around at everyone staring at them, "Bob, maybe-"

"How many people died because of what you did, Wayne!?" Bob roared as he pushed himself to his feet, his chair clattering to the floor behind him, and his hands clenching into fists, "How many people!?"

"Hey, that's enough!" the bartender shouted, catching Bob's attention as he cocked the shotgun in his hands and leveled it at the large man, "If you two are gonna fight, take it outside."

Bob stared impassively at the shotgun for a moment, his shoulders heaving as he fought to regain control of himself.

"Sorry, it's fine," Bob said, holding up his hands and making his way towards the door, "I was just leaving."

"Well, it was uh, nice seeing you again," Megamind said nervously to Wayne as he rose to his feet, "Well….maybe not nice….but it was something."

Wayne said nothing in reply as he turned to watch Bob and Megamind go, a stricken expression on his features. Opening the door, Bob paused in the doorway and looked back at Wayne.

"God, Wayne," Bob said as he looked the other man in the eye, "How can you live with yourself?"

When Wayne said nothing in reply, Bob could only shake his head in disgust and leave, Megamind right on his heels.

The gravel crunching under his feet, Bob stomped across the parking lot until he reached the side of the road, where he stopped and glared at the field on the other side. A few moments later, Megamind stepped up next to him, nervously looking up at the taller man.

"So….how are you feeling?" Megamind questioned hesitantly.

In response, Bob reached down, scooped a rock off of the ground and hurled it with a snarl, the rock quickly disappearing over the horizon.

"...Yeah, I kind of figured," Megamind said with a nod.

"He was the best of us," Bob mumbled, still looking at the horizon.

"Huh?" Megamind asked in confusion.

"That's what I always thought, at least," Bob explained, "Out of all of us heroes, Metro Man was the best of us. And not just because he was the most powerful. He just seemed to have this innate goodness to him. Like he could do no wrong. He was the type of hero the rest of us strove to be"

Bob paused as he continued looking out over the field before him.

"In that regard, it would have been better if you had killed him," Bob said with a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair, "I guess this is the part where you say I told you so."

"Well, I certainly was not going to say that," Megamind replied nervously.

"Yeah, well, that's because you're smart," Bob observed with a chuckle.

"I'm not sure I could ever call myself intelligent again," Megamind said, a morose expression spreading across his face, "After all, I'm the man who created Titan."

Looking down at Megamind, a sympathetic look crossed Bob's face.

"You know, all that, it's not really on you, right?" Bob asked, "Sure, you gave the guy powers, but he's the one who chose to do that with them. If anything, you were trying to help people in your own misguided way."

"That's hardly comfort to the people who died and their families," Megamind retorted, "If Metro Man holds blame then so do I, and I'm certain I could continue helping people for the rest of my days and never repay that debt."

As Bob listened to Megamind's words, a look of understanding entered his expression, and he felt as though he was seeing the alien for the first time.

"You know, looking back on it, I feel like I should have known that something was wrong with the whole thing," Bob commented, "Sure, you were always putting Metro Man into death traps, but I don't think you were ever expecting them to work."

"It certainly caught me off guard," Megamind agreed.

"Right," Bob agreed, "And you never killed anyone before that."

"Oh, of course not," Megamind replied, clearly repulsed by the idea, "I've done my fair share of crimes. I've caused millions of dollars in damages and kidnapped the woman who somehow became my girlfriend more times than I can count, but I draw the line at murder. That's why I got so angry with you today. Honestly, it tended to put me on the outs with the rest of the villain community."

"Really?" Bob asked in surprise, "But what about….uh what's his name? The guy with the nose."

"Gru?" Megamind provided with a chuckle, "Yes, we partnered up on capers every now and then."

"I know," Bob replied with a smirk of his own, "I usually helped Metro Man bring you two in."

"Right, of course," Megamind agreed with a smile and a nod, "But you have to remember, Gru isn't a killer either. More of a thief. He was always after the biggest score, more out of pride than greed."

"Right, right," Bob said, nodding his head in understanding before something seemed to occur to him, "Hey, is it true that he stole the moon?"

"For a little while, from what I've heard," Megamind confirmed with a nod of his own, "Which is certainly more than most people could say."

"What's he doing now days?" Bob asked.

"I don't know," Megamind admitted with a shrug, "We kind of fell out of contact after my hero turn."

"That makes sense," Bob concluded with a nod, "I wonder what he's up to."

"Knowing Gru, he's got his eye on some treasure or other," Megamind guessed, chuckling as he looked out at the horizon.

 _Later_ ,

The world had become a madhouse of fire, screams and broken concrete. She cried out for her parents, but her voice was lost in the sound of buildings collapsing into the streets. Looking around, she couldn't see anything through the clouds of smoke and dust, illuminated by the hellish glow of unseen fires.

And then he was there.

A looming figure floating a foot or so off the ground, all she could make out of him through the smoke was his bulky build and the trailing cape he wore.

And his burning red eyes that seemed to glare into her soul.

Letting out a gasp, the girl, no more than twelve, sat bolt upright in her bed, her brown eyes wide and her brunette hair matted with sweat. Looking around, she took a few gasping breaths as the last images of the nightmare faded.

The room was dark, dulling the normally bright yellow wallpaper and magenta drapes. Shelves lined the room, and a computer sat on a desk in the corner. Glancing around, she looked at the other occupants of the room, two girls both younger than her, and was relieved to see they were both still asleep. Fishing under her pillow, she pulled out a pair of glasses, put them on, and pulled herself out of her bed, which looked strangely like a hollowed out bomb, before exiting the room through a white door.

Making her way down the hall, the girl entered a bathroom and flicked the light on, looking at herself in the mirror hanging above the sink. Her reflection was of a Caucasian brunette with hair hanging down to her shoulders and eyes framed by thin, black glasses. She was skinny for her age, and was currently dressed in an oversized, olive green t-shirt. Removing her glasses, her reflection turned blurry as she reached down and turned on the faucet before cupping some water and splashing it on her face.

"Margo?" a male voice with a thick, Eastern European accent suddenly said from the doorway, "Are you okay?"

Gasping in surprise, the girl quickly wiped her face with the nearby hand towel and put her glasses back on before turning to look at the source of the voice. Standing in the doorway was a tall, broad-shouldered man dressed in black pants and a black jacket. He had a Caucasian complexion with blue eyes, a bald head and a prominent, pointed nose. He was currently looking at her with an expression of concern.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine, Gru," the girl, Margo, stuttered, "Just….Just had a bad dream, is all."

"Do….Do you want to talk about eet?" the man, Gru, asked with uncertainty.

"...Not really," Margo admitted, looking somewhat embarrassed.

A sympathetic expression on his face, Gru crouched down so that he was level with Margo.

"Do you want a hug?" Gru suggested as he held his arms open to her.

A small smile spreading across her face, Margo stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Gru, who did the same as she buried her face in his shoulder. As Margo held him tightly though, a worried look spread across Gru's features.

A/N: Alright, this is another scene I've been wanting to do for awhile now. I liked how it came out, hope you guys enjoyed it too! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	16. Syndicate

**Chapter 16: Syndicate**

As the sun shone in through the high-placed windows, Robert Callaghan stood before a bank of pay phones, a black telephone receiver held up to his ear and an anxious look on his face.

"Abigail, please…." Robert whispered into the phone.

"Dad, I meant what I said the last time we talked," Abigail's voice came from over the phone, "I can't keep doing this."

"Abby, you're all I have left," Robert pleaded, "I can't lose you."

"You should have thought of that before, Dad," Abigail replied sadly.

"Abby….there has to be something I can do," Robert said desperately.

"Maybe you could try standing your ground for once in your life?" Abigail suggested, a note of bitterness in her voice, before the line went dead.

Robert stood stunned for a moment before slowly lowering the receiver and placing it back in its cradle, a lost look in his eye. Turning away from the phone bank, Robert was surprised to find Yama looming behind him.

"Get some bad news?" Yama questioned, his eyebrow quirked and his tone amicable.

"I don't really see how that's any of your business," Robert replied standoffishly.

"Just trying to be friendly," Yama stated with a shrug.

"Well, I'm not looking to make friends," Robert said firmly before moving to walk around the large man, but was stopped cold as Yama placed a hand against Robert's chest.

"Neither am I," Yama replied, "I'm just here to give you a message."

"A message?" Robert echoed as he looked up at Yama wearily.

"From our mutual acquaintance," Yama explained, "You didn't forget about him, did you?"

At this, Robert's back stiffened as a cold chill ran down his spine.

"I'm going to tell you what I told him," Robert said, his voice low and dangerous, "I'm not interested."

"Oh come on, don't be like that," Yama replied, his voice full of mock hurt, "After all, the next time you call your little girl, you don't want it to be someone like me who picks up, do you?"

In response, Robert's eyes went wide as the blood drained out of his face.

"I didn't think so," Yama observed with a smug smirk.

"What do you want?" Robert demanded.

"I want you to be ready tonight," Yama answered, his voice low.

"Why?" Robert questioned, his brow furrowing, "What's happening tonight?"

"You'll know it when you see it," Yama replied, "Just be ready."

Robert stared up at Yama for a moment before reluctantly nodding his head.

"That's what I liked to see," Yama said as he took his hand off Robert's chest and patted the older man on the shoulder before he began walking away, "See you tonight, friend."

As Yama left, Robert watched him go as a storm of worry and fear churned in his chest, swirling around a dense core of shame.

 _Later_ ,

"So wait, you're telling me that Metro Man faked his own death?" Wasabi questioned, a look of clear confusion on his face, "And he did it so that he could become a singer?"

"If I'm lying, I'm dying!" Violet replied from her position in the armchair that Fred had set up in the group's shared laboratory, observing most of the gathered members of Big Hero 9 who were scattered around the room looking at her, the lab empty except for them, "My dad heard it straight from the horse's mouth."

"That's so messed up," Hiro said, shaking his head as he sat on a metal stool nearby, "Like, how could the world's greatest superhero just pull something like that?"

"I don't know," Violet answered with a sad expression, "My dad was pretty upset about it."

"I can understand why," Fred commented as he leaned against the armchair with his arms crossed, "From what I've read, your dad and Metro Man were pretty close. The only way something like that could be worse is if Frozone stabbed him in the back."

"At least I know Uncle Lucius would never do anything like that," Violet observed.

"How did you find out about this?" Riley questioned from where she sat perched on the edge of one of the lab tables.

"Megamind told us," Violet explained.

"That makes sense," Tip commented from her spot next to Riley, "He is the one who is supposed to have killed him."

"Why was your dad talking to Megamind though?" Honey inquired from her position near the back of the group, her phone in her hands.

"Well, that's probably one of those things that I'm not supposed to tell you," Violet answered, a look of chagrin on her face.

"Oh, come on, Freshman," Go Go groaned in exasperation, "You can't keep jerking us around like this."

"Yeah, you've already told us this much, why can't you tell us more?" Hiro pressed.

"Ugh, this is why I would never make it as a government agent," Violet commented with a sigh as she pulled her hair against her neck.

"Come on, guys, lay off her," Fred said with a warning tone.

"Ooo, watch out guys," Go Go teased, putting her hands up in mock surrender, "Here comes Violet's knight in shining armor."

Fred's face flushed with embarrassment as the others chuckled at this, though it abated somewhat as Violet looked up at him and smiled.

"Look, you're right, it's probably about time I tell you what's going on," Violet said with an apologetic tone, "You guys deserve to know, even if the AVL gets mad at me for telling you."

"Um, guys," Honey spoke up, drawing everyone's attention towards her as she looked down at her phone with a concerned expression, "I think that's going to have to wait."

"Is there a problem?" Baymax questioned.

"Yeah," Honey replied as she looked up, her expression turning haunted, "There's a jailbreak happening at the county jail."

"What!?" Hiro questioned in shock as he leapt to his feet.

"You don't think-" Riley began to say with a worried tone as she stood as well.

"We have to assume so," Hiro replied before he began running towards the door, "Come on!"

There was a moment where none of the others reacted, watching Hiro rush out of the lab in stunned surprise. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the others hustled after him, Riley grabbing Baymax's hand and pulling the slow-moving android behind her.

"Fred!" Violet exclaimed as she hopped out of the armchair and grabbed the young man's shoulder, stopping him and turning him to face her, "What's going on!? Why's everyone freaking out!?"

"The county jail is where they're keeping Robert Callaghan!" Fred replied breathlessly, "It's where they're holding Yokai!"

A look of shocked understanding plastered on her features, Violet quickly shoved Fred on the shoulder, urging the young man out of the lab as she followed behind him, scooping her backpack up off the ground as she ran.

As he rushed down the hallway, Hiro pulled his phone out of his pocket and began inputting commands into it.

"You sure this is a good time to be sending a text?" Go Go questioned as she caught up with Hiro.

"I'm not," Hiro replied as he finished and put his phone away, "I'm calling in our equipment."

"What!?" Go Go questioned in surprise, "How are you doing that?"

"Me and Fred's dad worked on a delivery system over the weekend," Hiro explained with a smirk, "It'll meet us at the van."

Reaching the end of the hall, Hiro slammed open the pair of double doors that sat there and the group piled out of the building into the parking lot. Skidding to a halt next to Wasabi's van, Hiro turned his attention skyward, prompting the others to do so as well. For a moment, no one saw anything, with even the stars in the sky drowned out by San Fransokyo's light pollution.

"There!" Riley called as she pointed at a spot in the sky. Turning their attention towards the spot, the others were able to see eight dots of bluish light approaching them, growing bigger and brighter by the second.

A moment later, the lights, which had morphed into shapes, came to a stop above the group's heads before lowering themselves to the ground. As they landed before them, the group was able to see that the objects were grey, box-shaped robots that stood roughly as tall as Baymax with blue-hued engines on their bottoms. Each of the robots sported a symbol on their fronts, consisting of a blue microbot, a recreation of Baymax's face in red, a yellow illustration of one of Go Go's mag-lev discs, a green symbol resembling one of Wasabi's plasma blades, a pink chemball, a white outline of a fox's head, and what appeared to be a grey colored steering wheel.

"Whoa," Violet said, her tone impressed, "Very cool."

Stepping up to the robot sporting the microbot symbol, Hiro stood in front of it as a panel near the top opened to reveal a camera.

"Scanning now," an electronic voice stated, before pausing as the robot made a whirring noise, "Subject identified. Subject: Excelsior. How may this unit assist you?"

"Begin armament procedures," Hiro ordered as he took off his sweatshirt and tossed it aside.

"Acknowledged," the robot answered, "Armament procedures commencing."

A moment later, the front of the robot opened up, revealing Hiro's equipment, as four spindly arms extended from the sides. Working quickly, the robot began putting Hiro's gear on him as the boy stood with his arms held out to his sides.

Seeing this, the rest of the group stepped up to their respective robots and began going through similar processes.

"Alright, very cool," Violet added before she sheepishly hooked a thumb over her shoulder, "I'm going to duck behind one of these cars and change while you guys do that."

As Violet slunk away, Tip looked at her robot in confusion.

"Wait, I don't have any gear besides the van," Tip said as she gestured at the robot as it scanned her, "What is even in there?"

At this, the front of the robot opened, causing Oh to come tumbling out, the Boov laying dazed on the pavement, his normal purple skin completely green in color.

"Well, ask a stupid question…." Tip said with a sigh before she helped Oh back to his feet.

A few minutes later, and the group were standing fully dressed, taking a moment to look over their delivered equipment as the robots rocketed back into the sky.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" Hiro questioned as he climbed onto Baymax's back.

Earning nods from everyone else, a look of determination settled onto Hiro's face.

"Then let's go put an end to this," Hiro said firmly.

 _Earlier_ ,

As night fell over the prison, a pair of guards made their way through one of the blocks of cells, chatting amiably. Suddenly, the ground around them started to shake, causing the two guards to let out panicked yelps as they looked around with wide eyes. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the shaking stopped, leaving no sign of its passing besides the dust drifting down from the ceiling.

"Whoa!" one of the guards exclaimed, "Was that an earthquake?"

"Nah," Yama's voice replied from the cell right next to the guards, "That was my cue."

"Your what?" one of the guards questioned as they turned their attentions towards Yama's cell.

Yama was currently sitting on his bunk, located near the back of his cell. As the guards watched, Yama put his hand in his mouth and seemed to search around for something.

"Inmate, what the hell are you doing?" one of the guards questioned as they approached the door to the cell, only to stop as Yama let out a grunt of pain and ripped one of his teeth out of his jaw.

"Jesus Christ," one of the guards whispered in disgust, "What the hell did you do that for?"

Yama, for his part, rolled his now sore jaw as he held the tooth up in front of his face. Looking at the tooth, Yama saw it was hollow, with the inside contain a small gel pod filled with a purple liquid. Gingerly grabbing the pod with the fingers of his other hand, Yama held it up for the confused guards to see as he tossed away the false tooth.

"Down the hatch," Yama said with a smug grin before opening his mouth and tossing the gel pod in, swallowing it in a single gulp.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, as the baffled guards looked at the still smug Yama. Then, all of a sudden, a look of agony crossed Yama's face as he clutched his chest and doubled over in pain.

"Aaargh!" Yama called, his voice echoing through the cell block, as he rolled off his bed and fell onto his hands and knees, "Graaaggh!"

"Christ, I think he just poisoned himself!" one of the guards yelled as he stepped towards the cell door and began rummaging around for the correct key, "Call a med team down here!"

"I don't think it's a med team we're gonna need," the other guard said, his voice full of fear as he placed a hand on the other man's shoulder.

Confused, the guard paused in his search for his keys before he lifted his gaze to look at his friend. Seeing the other man staring wide-eyed and pale-faced into Yama's cell, the guard slowly turned his gaze there as well, a feeling of dread welling up in his chest.

Yama had shifted his weight, now doubled over while sitting on his knees. The first thing the guard noticed was that Yama's skin had taken on a strange, purple hue. Then, with his hands clenched into fists, Yama began slamming them against the floor, grunting in rage and pain as he did. Every blow seemed stronger than the last, until with a mighty roar, Yama brought his fists down hard on the floor, creating cracks in the concrete that spiderwebbed across his cell and into the hall beyond. Then, with a sickening cracking sound, Yama's shoulders began to shift underneath his skin, growing larger and broader, ripping a tear down the back of his orange jumpsuit in the process.

"Oh my God," one of the guards whispered in terror, staring at the transforming Yama like a deer caught in the headlights.

"C-Contol!" the other guard shouted, grabbing hold of his walkie-talkie with a shaking hand, "C-Control, come in! Sound the alarm! O-One of the inmates….one of the inmates in Cell Block D….he's….he's…."

The guard's voice trailed off as he stared at Yama, whose monstrous bulk now barely fit in his cell. As the guards watched in terror, Yama lifted his head and glared at them with black, shark-like eyes, an inhuman growl rumbling deep in his chest.

"He's changing," the guard finished, his voice nothing but a whisper.

Then there was nothing left for the guards to do but scream as Yama tore through the cell door and fell upon them.

Gunfire and alarm klaxons echoed through the hallways of the prison as Robert Callaghan sat alone in his cell, staring at the door with wide eyes.

Suddenly, a guard ran by, a shotgun clutched in his hands and a bulletproof vest secured to his torso. A few moments later, Robert heard a scream of terror before the form of the guard went flying by in the opposite direction, landing somewhere further down the hall with a sickening thud.

His heart hammering in his chest, Robert struggled to keep his breathing in check as the sound of heavy footsteps approached his cell. They stopped just out of view before a hand, giant and monstrous, reached down and grasped the door to his cell, ripping it off with ease and tossing it contemptuously down the hall.

" **Out,"** a demonically deep voice demanded, prompting Robert to rise to his shaking feet and cautiously creep out of his cell.

Looking up as he stepped over the jagged remains of the cell door, Robert found the thing that had once been Yama glaring down at him with pitiless black eyes, now easily standing ten feet tall. His skin was now a dark shade of purple, and his black hair had grown long and spikey, looking almost like a protective shell as it spilled down his back. Yama's facical features had turned more beastial, with an upturned, almost porcine nose, and a jutting jaw from which grew sharp teeth, including a matching pair of tusk-like incisors that grew well past his lips. His shirt had been completely torn away, revealing his massive shoulders and thick slabs of muscle on his chest. His bulging arms were almost comically long, hanging down to his knees, with his fingernails having been replaced by sharp, black claws. His legs were relatively small compared to the rest of him, though they were still impressively muscular, and his bare toes ended in the same black claws. Somehow, his pants still clung to his waist, the transformation having turned them into a pair of ragged orange shorts.

" **Friend,"** Yama greeted with a sharp toothed grin.

"W-What do we do now?" Robert questioned, his throat feeling suddenly and horribly dry.

" **Come,"** Yama answered, before gesturing for Robert to follow him with a jerk of his head.

With that, Yama began trudging back the way he had come, prompting Robert to follow, the older man having to hustle to keep up with the monster's longer strides. As they made their way through the prison, Robert looked around in horror at the broken walls and men that Yama had left in his wake.

Reaching the prison's long, central hall, Yama let out a monstrous roar before he charged at the building's front entrance, smashing through the pair of heavy metal doors with shocking ease. Stumbling after him through the rubble, Robert found himself in the prison's large courtyard, which was nothing more than an empty stretch of gravel and asphalt stretching between the prison and the chainlink fence topped with barbed wire that surrounded it. Standing between them and the fence was a group of a dozen or so guards dressed in body armor with shotguns and rifles at the ready. As the spotlights mounted on the nearby guard towers focused on them, Robert saw visible looks of fear pass over the guards' faces as they caught sight of Yama's monstrous form.

"Stay where you are!" a bullhorn-amplified voice ordered, "If you attempt to escape, you will be fired upon!"

In response, Yama let out a monstrous roar before charging at the guards, loose gravel kicking up with every thunderous step. Letting out cries of alarm, the guards opened fire, but the bullets pinged harmlessly off of Yama's purple hide as he continued charging. Then, just as Yama was about to fall upon the panicked guards, a loud thrum shook the air before a pulse wave slammed into the monster. The blast knocked Yama backwards, his clawed feet digging into the ground as he skidded to a halt.

Blinking in surprise, Robert looked in the direction the blast came from in time to see the Big Hero 9 fly over the fence and descend on the courtyard.

"That's far enough, Callaghan!" Excelsior shouted as Big Guy landed hard, kicking up gravel in the process. At the same time, the van descended until it was hovering just off the ground, allowing Ultraviolet and the rest of Big Hero 9 to pile out and form a line between Yama and the guards with Big Guy and Excelsior.

"Whoa," Ultraviolet muttered as Yama shook his head and snarled at the heroes, "Who's his friend?"

"Oh my God," Kaiju whispered in shock, "I think that's Yama."

"Yama!?" Torque questioned in surprise, "What the hell happened to him!?"

"We'll worry about that later!" Excelsior replied, "Right now, we need to take him down!"

" **Heroes,"** Yama spat as he glared at the group before him, **"Crush you."**

"Oh yeah? How are you going to do that?" Driver questioned from over the van's loudspeaker, "Because there are more of us then there are of you."

At that, as if on cue, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to shake, causing the heroes to let out cries of surprise as they fought to keep their balance.

" **Wrong,"** Yama retorted, unperturbed by the shaking as a shark-like smile spread across his face.

A moment later, something burst from the ground behind Yama and Robert, the older man whipping around to look at it in surprise while his monstrous companion remained unphased. The object was cylindrical in shape and was roughly as long as a subway car, constructed from thick plates of metal colored brown from caked on layers of dirt. The vehicle moved about on tank treads that ran most of its length and sported a large, conical drill on its front that was slowing to a stop as the vehicle emerged from the ground.

As the heroes looked at the drill vehicle in shock, a panel opened at the top, allowing a small platform to rise into view. On the platform stood a middle-aged man with Caucasian features. He had a stocky build and stood at a dwarfish height, his flat nose and prominent front teeth making him resemble a mole. He was dressed in brown overalls over a dun colored shirt, with black work boots on his feet and grey, three-fingered metal gauntlets on his hands. A miner's helmet with a built in light sat on his head, pulled so low that it hid his eyes, while a black cape hung from his shoulders.

"The Underminer," Ultraviolet and Kaiju whispered in surprised unison.

"It is I, the Underminer!" the short man confirmed, his voice deep and rough, "And I have traveled here in my drill tank to deliver to you your doom!"

With that, a large door on the side of the drill tank opened up, folding outward to form a ramp to the ground. Once it was finished opening, seven figures emerged from the drill tank.

One was a middle-aged mountain of a man of Latino descent, with broad shoulders and a barrel chest. He wore a navy blue wrestling unitard that left much of his hairy chest and thick arms uncovered. A matching pair of wrestling boots covered his feet, and his face was obscured by a red luchador's mask marked with a black star, though it did allow for his mane of black hair to spill down to his shoulders. A red cape was draped around his shoulder, and a gold necklace sporting a medallion marked with an "M" hung around his neck.

"El Macho," Kaiju said with hushed, reverent tones.

Next to him was another middle-aged man, with Caucasian features and a tall, lanky build. He wore a black, long-sleeve t-shirt and white, high-waisted pants with black leather shoes on his feet. A black beret sat on top of his head, covering his short, brunette hair, while his face was covered in greasepaint in a coloration most people would associate with mimes. A pair of bandoliers criss-crossed over his chest, to which a number of spherical red devices were secured.

"Bomb Voyage," Kaiju observed.

The third figure was another middle-aged man with a Caucasian complexion and slim build. He wore an all purple, leather outfit, cut in a style that hadn't been popular in decades, with broad shoulder pads and an open front that showed off the white t-shirt he wore underneath. His black hair looked like the mutant offspring between a high top and a mullet, and his upper lip was covered with a thick mustache. He wore white sneakers on his feet and fingerless gloves on his hands, with what appeared to be a teal keytar strapped to his back. His attention was currently focused on the Rubix cube in his hands as he absentmindedly chewed some gum.

"Balthazar Bratt," Kaiju said with mounting astonishment.

The fourth figure was a woman only slightly older than most of the heroes, with Caucasian features and an athletic build. She wore a simple, black tank top that left her stomach bare along with a matching pair of tight pants. Her long black hair spilled down to the small of her back, and a lime green, serpentine tattoo wound its way around her arms, stomach and neck. A pair of thick black boots covered her feet, the bottoms of which glowed the same shade of green as her tattoo as she glided instead of walked down the ramp.

"Rollergrrl," Kaiju identified.

The fifth figure was a woman as well, with Caucasian features and a slim build. She wore a white leotard with long black gloves and thigh-high boots. A yellow belt was wrapped around her waist, secured with a buckle that resembled a white and yellow eyeball. A black cape lined with yellow was wrapped around her shoulders, secured with a clasp identical to her belt buckle. Her long red hair spilled down to her shoulders while her eyes were obscured by a large pair of white glasses with opaque, yellow lenses.

"Mezzmerella," Kaiju said in surprise, "And….I actually don't know who the last two are."

At this, the heroes turned their attention towards the two figures who were at the middle of the group. Phantasma walked with her hands clasped behind her back, her green eyes focused on nothing in particular. Next to her was a relatively short figure dressed in a black bodysuit identical to her own. He wore a long, black cloak with the hood pulled up, obscuring most of his features, though there was a glowing red light in the spot where his left eye would be, and the lower half of his face was obscured by a mask from which a pair of tubes slithered out, wrapping around his arms and leading to something that had been strapped to his back, though the object was obscured by his cloak. His most obvious feature though was the large, metal arm that hung where his right arm should be.

"This is bad," Ultraviolet whispered, her eyes wide, "This is really bad."

Before any of the Big Hero 9 could ask her what she meant, the shorter man cleared his voice, the electronic buzzing catching all of their attentions.

"Good evening," the short man greeted, his voice electronic and grating, "I imagine this is all something of a surprise for you."

"Who are you?" Excelsior demanded.

"Well, I'd like to believe that most of my associates' reputations precede them," the short man replied before gesturing towards Yama with his metal hand, "Though our newest addition is Mr.-"

" **Oni,"** Yama interrupted, causing the short man to regard him for a moment.

"Oni," the short man agreed, "It does have a nice ring to it. Nevertheless, this is my assistant, Phantasma."

Phantasma made no reaction as the short man motioned towards her before placing his metal hand to his chest.

"And you can call me Enigma," he finished, and the heroes could practically hear the smile in his voice.

"What is this, some kind of secret supervillain syndicate?" Kaiju demanded.

"Syndicate would be the best word to describe us, I suppose," Enigma acquiesced with a nod.

"What do you want?" Kitsune questioned.

"Why, this is a recruitment mission," Enigma explained as he gestured towards Callaghan.

"You are not leaving here with him!" Excelsior declared, pointing an accusatory finger at Enigma as he did.

"Oh, I assure you, I am," Enigma replied before glancing over his shoulder, "Underminer."

Chuckling, Underminer pushed a button on one of his gauntlets, causing a panel to open up on the top of his drill tank before something was shot out. The object arced through the air before slamming into the ground right next to Robert, causing the man to stumble back in surprise. As Robert collected himself, he watched as the object, a long cylinder of some kind, opened up, causing hundreds of tiny black robots to tumble out.

"Microbots!?" Kitsune whispered in shock.

As Robert stared at the pile of microbots in shock, Phantasma walked up to him, pulling an object out of her jacket and holding it out to him. Looking at the object, Robert saw that it was a white kabuki mask detailed with red markings. The mask's band was made of metal and seemed to be some kind of electronic.

"Callaghan!" Excelsior shouted, grabbing Robert's attention, "Don't!"

"Come on, Professor," Enigma spoke up, causing Robert to turn his attention towards him, "You can't tell me that part of you doesn't want some revenge against the people who ruined your life."

Robert stared at Enigma in surprise for a moment before slowly lowering his gaze to the mask. He looked at it for a quiet moment before his expression turned hard. Taking the mask from Phantasma, Robert placed it over his head, cover his face. A moment later, the pile of microbots stirred to life, moving as a swarm with jerky, unnatural movements until they were gathered around Robert's feet.

"You should walk away," Yokai warned as the microbots formed a column beneath him, raising him off the ground.

"No way!" Excelsior shouted back defiantly, "Even with even sides, we're still taking you all down."

"You think these are even sides?" Enigma questioned before letting out a harsh, electronic laugh. As he laughed, all the other villains except Phantasma and Yokai joined in, sending chills down the heroes' spines.

"Look at them," Enigma said, gesturing at the Big Hero 9 while looking at the rest of the Syndicate, "So sure of themselves, these heroes of tomorrow."

Sighing, Enigma shook his head and looked back at the heroes, his glowing red eye locking gazes with Excelsior.

"Tear them apart."

A/N: So this is a chapter I've been waiting awhile to write, and I had a blast getting to finally introduce our villains. Hope you all enjoyed it too! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	17. Jailhouse Rock

**Chapter 17: Jailhouse Rock**

With a monstrous roar, Oni charged at the heroes with El Macho, Bomb Voyage, Rollergrrl, Balthazar Bratt, and Mezmerella trailing behind him. At the same time, the Underminer lowered back into his drill tank as the door on the side slid shut and the drill started back up. Seeing the monstrous man coming, Ultraviolet stepped forward and held her hand up, forming a barrier between the heroes and Oni. Roaring, Oni lowered his shoulder and slammed into the barrier, causing it to ripple for a moment but hold as Ultraviolet let out a hiss of pain.

"Go!" Excelsior shouted to the guards behind them as Ultraviolet held the villains back, "Get out of here!"

At the hero's urging, the prison guards turned and beat a hasty retreat. Observing this, Enigma turned his attention towards Yokai.

"Professor," Enigma said, catching Yokai's attention, "Do you mind dealing with the heroes' new friend for us?"

Turning his gaze towards where Ultraviolet was, Yokai set his shoulders before leaning forward, the swarm of microbots carrying him forward in a rolling wave. Seeing him coming, Excelsior's eyes went wide.

"Ultraviolet, look out!" Excelsior called in warning.

Turning her attention towards Yokai, Ultraviolet's eyes widened in surprise before she thrust her splayed hand at him, forming another barrier between the two of them. Seeing this, Yokai surged forward, his microbot swarm slamming into the barrier like a wave against the shore. Then, after a moment, the microbots began crawling up and over the barrier, causing Ultraviolet to look on in shock.

"Violet!" Kaiju called out as a huge mass of Yokai's microbots surged upwards and slammed down on Ultraviolet's barrier, causing the whole thing to shake as she fell to one knee as her barriers dropped.

Snarling in fury, Oni rushed forward, charging on all fours like a massive ape. Seeing him coming, Big Guy leapt forward, grabbing hold of Oni's shoulders and forcing the monstrous man to a halt, his feet grinding into the gravel in the process. Snarling, Oni began grappling with Big Guy, but the android managed to hold him fast.

As the two struggled, Rollergrrl came racing forward, the ground glowing green beneath her feet as she seemed to skate along it. Reaching Oni, Rollergrrl lowered herself into a slide, zipping beneath both his and Big Guy's legs. As she passed under Big Guy, Rollergrrl placed her hand against the ground, causing the same green energy to spread across the ground underneath the android's feet. As it did, Big Guy's feet suddenly slipped out from underneath him, causing Excelsior to let out a cry of surprise from the android's back. As Big Guy slipped, Oni grabbed hold of the android's arms and turned, spinning around before tossing him away.

As Big Guy tumbled through the air, Excelsior leapt from the android's back, rolling across the ground as Big Guy slammed into the earth. As Oni roared and pounded his chest in triumph, Rollergrrl slid to her feet, rolling her shoulders as she smirked cockily.

As Ultraviolet pulled herself to her feet, she looked up with wide eyes as Yokai loomed over her on his column of microbots.

"I have no problem with you, girl," Yokai said with a warning tone, "You can still walk away."

"Yeah well, they told me about what you did," Ultraviolet replied as she clenched her hands into fists, causing orbs to form around them, "So I think I have a problem with you."

Growling, Yokai thrust his hand at Ultraviolet, sending a column of microbots shooting towards her. Seeing this coming, Ultraviolet slammed her arms together in front of her, creating a barrier that the column broke against. Gritting her teeth, Ultraviolet took a step forward before thrusting her hands towards Yokai, turning the barrier into a plow that drove through the microbot swarm, with Ultraviolet running behind it. As Yokai made a grasping motion with his hands, the microbots began to flow around Ultraviolet's barrier in an attempt to take her from behind.

Seeing the swarm coming, Ultraviolet formed a flat disc in front of her that she quickly stepped onto, before rapidly repeating the action so that she climbed into the air on a makeshift staircase. Once she had reached a height slightly above Yokai, Ultraviolet leapt off the final disc, a barrier orb forming around her fist as she pulled it back and dove at the criminal. His eyes going wide behind his mask, Yokai had just enough time to raise his left hand and form a thin barrier of microbots between him and Ultraviolet. Smirking triumphantly, Ultraviolet slammed her first against the barrier, the force of the blow sending the microbots flying. As the barrier shattered, Ultraviolet was able to see that Yokai now had his right hand raised, which was making a grasping motion towards her, right before she felt a tendril of microbts wrap around her leg. Ultraviolet had enough time to look at Yokai in shock before he made a pulling motion with his right hand, causing the tendril to yank back and slam the hero against the ground.

Letting out a cough of pain, Ultraviolet lay stunned on the ground, unable to do anything as Yokai came into hazy view above her. Looking down at the helpless superhero, Yokai raised a hand above his head, causing a large block of microbots to form a few feet over Ultraviolet. As Ultraviolet weakly tried to raise an arm to form a barrier and defend herself, Yokai dropped the block on to her.

Before it could land on Ultraviolet though, the block of microbots was suddenly blown to the side and the tiny black robots showered across the ground. Turning his attention towards where the "blow" had come from, Yokai saw Kitsune standing a short distance away, her arm outstretched towards him, palm forward, her white microbots formed into nine long tails behind her.

"You," Yokai growled as he fully turned to face her.

"Give up, Professor," Kitsune said firmly, "This didn't go well for you the last time."

" _Yeah, since we kicked your butt up and down the street last time!_ " Anger added with a laugh.

"I can't do that," Yokai answered with a shake of his head. As he spoke, Kitsune felt a wave of fear roll off the older man.

" _Do you think it could be his daughter again_?" Sadness wondered.

"Is this about Abigail?" Kitsune questioned, her voice concerned, "Are these guys threatening her? We can-"

"You're the ones who stole her from me!" Yokai roared with a fiery flash of anger as he thrust his fist at Kitsune, sending a column of microbots thundering towards her.

"Have it your way then," Kitsune muttered with a sigh before turning to the side and making a sweeping motion with her hands, causing the column to break apart and turn into a flowing tendril as it bent around her. Spinning in place, Kitsune caused the tendril to flow around her before she thrust her hand at Yokai, causing the microbots to shoot back at the man. Seeing the attack coming, Yokai dodged by jerking to the side, before his eyes went wide as Kitsune anticipated the move and made a sweeping motion with one of her arms, causing one of her tails to break off and shoot at the villain. Acting on instinct, Yokai held a hand out to stop the attack, and was caught by surprise when the tendril of white microbots suddenly froze in place.

" _What!?_ " Fear screamed as Kitsune looked on in shock while Yokai experimentally waved his hand, causing the tendril of white microbots to collapse to the ground.

"Well," Yokai chuckled as he focused on Kitsune while his microbots gather back around him, "Looks like you're not the only one who can get upgrades, girl."

Setting her shoulders, Kitsune called her microbots back to her, reforming all her tails and running towards Yokai as he charged on the back of his mass of tiny robots, the two forces slamming together in a storm of black and white.

Managing to pick herself up off the ground, Ultraviolet took stock of her surroundings, watching as the rest of Big Hero 9 fought with the members of the Syndicate.

As Oni resumed wrestling with Big Guy, he pulled his fist back to strike the android in the face, but was stopped as Miss Chemistry threw a pink chemball at his hand, which popped into a mass of pink goop that stuck his hand to the ground. Caught off guard by the sudden turn, Oni was unprepared as Big Guy grabbed the mutated man by the legs and flipped him onto his back.

Snarling in fury, Oni righted himself as best he could before he began trying to free his hand from the pink goo. After struggling for a moment, Oni paused as a small, red device was suddenly tossed into the goo. Oni looked at it in confusion for a moment before letting out a yelp as the device exploded, splattering the goo and freeing the monstrous man's hand. Oni looked at his hand in surprise for a moment before grinning maniacally as he turned his attention back toward Big Guy and charged at the android.

Blinking in surprise, Miss Chemistry turned her attention towards where the device had come from, only to find Bomb Voyage walking towards her, tossing another one of the small explosive devices up and down in his hand as he did.

" _Mademoiselle Chimie, oui_?" BombVoyage questioned as he looked her up and down, "I must say, eet ees an 'onor to meet one as lovely as yourself."

"Sorry," Miss Chemistry apologized as she narrowed her eyes at him, "Not interested."

" _Non_?" Bomb Voyage questioned in surprise, "But we share zhe same passion."

"There's more to chemistry than explosions," she countered as she squared up to him.

"Ees zehre?" Bomb Voyage asked doubtfully, before a savage grin spread across his face and he hurled the explosive device at her.

Before the explosive could reach her, a yellow disc came spinning into view, striking the device and knocking it to the side, where it exploded in a shower of gravel. Snarling, Bomb Voyage turned to see where the attack had come from, glaring at Torque as she smirked at him while catching her returning disc.

Torque's smirk quickly vanished, however, as Rollergrrl checked her from the side and knocked her to the ground. Picking herself up, Torque glared at Rollergrrl as the other woman grinned while gliding past her.

"Sorry, wanted to see if you were any good on those things," Rollergrrl taunted as she shrugged her shoulders helplessly, "Guess not."

Snarling, Torque pushed herself back to her feet and went chasing after Rollergrrl, causing the villain to smile broadly as she picked up her pace.

"Torque wait!" Laserblade called after her, "She's trying to goad you!"

Laserblade's attention was quickly pulled away from Torque as El Macho ran up and dropped kicked the young man in the chest, completely knocking the hero off his feet.

"I would worry more about jourself," El Macho said sternly as he bounced back to his feet, and walked over to where Laserblade lay, groaning in pain. Reaching down, El Macho grabbed Laserblade before easily picking him off the ground and tossing him away.

Seeing her friend in trouble, the Driver turned the van towards El Macho and readied the vehicle's pulse gun. As it fired though, Balthazar Bratt powerslid between the two while whaling on his keytar. As he did, waves of concentrated sound erupted from the instrument, and slammed into the pulse blast, the two attacks managing to cancel each other out.

"Wow, lame," Bratt mocked as he rose to his feet while El Macho charged after Laserblade, "You've got to turn that sound system up to eleven if you want to rock with me."

As Bratt played a few bars on his keytar and did a mocking dance, the Driver's eyes narrowed.

"Alright, I'm going to paste this guy," Driver said as she turned a knob on the van's dashboard and prepared to fire another shot. As the weapon powered up though, the ground beneath the hovering van began to shake ominously.

"Tip!" Strange Visitor exclaimed from next to her, "Be lookings out!"

Looking down, Driver watched in surprise as the Underminer's drill tank burst out of the ground beneath them, shooting directly into the air with it's drill buzzing. Strange Visitor had just enough time to activate the van's shield before the drill tank plowed into them, the drill striking the bubble around the vehicle and sending it flipping through the air.

"Haha!" the Underminer's voice boomed over the drill tank's loudspeakers as it landed on its treads, "Flight cannot protect you from the reach of the Underminer!"

As he spoke, ports opened on the top of the drill tank from which a half-dozen rockets came shooting out, heading straight for the van as the Driver managed to stabilize it. Her eyes going wide, the Driver could do nothing but watch as the rockets barreled towards them.

Suddenly, before the rockets could hit them, a barrier formed between the van and the missiles, causing the explosives to crash into it and explode prematurely. Looking around, the Driver managed to spot Ultraviolet standing a short distance away, her hand outstretched towards the van.

Grumbling to himself, Enigma turned his attention towards where Kitsune and Yokai were battling.

"Professor!" Enigma called insistently.

"I'm a little busy at the moment!" Yokai shouted back as he turned to glare at Enigma.

Turning his attention back to Kitsune, Yokai's eyes widened behind his mask as he found a tendril of her white microbots lashing towards him. As the tendril struck him however, Yokai suddenly exploded into a cloud of black smoke.

" _What the heck!?_ " Disgust exclaimed as Kitsune looked around in surprise, watching as Yokai's swarm of black microbots also dissipated into streams of black smoke.

"Don't worry, Professor," an ethereal voice said as the black smoke began to flow together, "I'll handle this."

As Kitsune watched, the black smoke coalesced into a human form before it disappeared and Mezmerella stepped into view.

"Hello," Mezmerella greeted, waggling her fingers at Kitsune before pointing one at her, "You must be Kitsune."

"Who are you?" Kitsune questioned wearily.

"The name's Mezmerella," the villain answered with a small curtsey, "And I have to say, I've been looking forward to this. It's been so long since I faced off with another psychic."

"How did you-" Kitsune began to ask before stopping as Mezmerella lifted her hand up and tapped herself on the temple.

"Come on," Mezmerella chided, "I'm sure you can feel it too."

At first, Kitsune didn't understand what the villain meant, but as she focused, she realized she could sense something something she hadn't noticed before. A kind of writhing, incorporeal tendril that was connecting the two of them.

" _What. Is. That!?_ " Fear demanded.

"W-What are you doing?" Kitsune questioned, trying and failing to keep a quaver out of her voice.

"Isn't it obvious?" Mezmerella questioned with a contemptuous sniff, "I'm mesmerizing you."

As Mezmerella spoke the words, Kitsune looked around, only to discover, to her horror, that everyone else had vanished, leaving the two of them alone in the prison courtyard.

"Stop it!" Kitsune screamed as she thrust a hand at Mezmerella, shooting a tendril of microbots at the villain. However, when the tendril struck her, Mezmerella simply vanished in a cloud of black smoke that quickly dissipated.

"Oh come now, that's not going to work," Mezmerella taunted with a laugh, her ethereal voice seemingly coming from everywhere at once, "We're not in the real world anymore. We don't play by those rules."

As Mezmerella spoke, Kitsune's microbots suddenly began to melt, turning into a white goop that puddled around the girl's feet. As she looked around wildly, Kitsune failed to notice Mezmerella rise up out of the goop behind her. Suddenly sensing the woman, Kitsune spun around to face Mezmerella, only for the villain the reach out and grab the top of the girl's head with one hand.

"We're in my world now," Mezmerella stated softly as she loomed over Kitsune, "And we play by my rules."

Before Kitsune could react, Mezmerella suddenly pushed down on her head, causing the girl to suddenly sink into the white goop, the remains of her microbots swallowing her whole as she let out a scream.

While this was happening to the two of them, to everyone else, it appeared as though both Mezmerella and Kitsune were standing silently before one another, looking into each other's eyes as the woman gripped the sides of the girl's head in her hands, both heedless as Yokai moved away from them and went rushing towards Ultraviolet. Seeing this from across the battlefield, a pang of fear lanced through Excelsior's heart.

"Ba-I mean Big Guy!" Excelsior called out, causing the android to look over at the boy even as he continued to wrestle with Oni, "Kitsune's in trouble!"

Looking towards the girl in question, Big Guy nodded his head before punching Oni hard in the face, causing the villain to stumble back and giving the android the opportunity to rush over to Excelsior's side, letting the boy climb up onto his back.

" **No leave!"** Oni bellowed as he charged towards Big Guy and Excelsior, **"Fight!"**

Before Oni could reach them, Kaiju came leaping in, landing easily on the villain's shoulders, standing directly in front of his face.

"Fire breath!" Kaiju shouted before spewing a gout of flame directly in Oni's face. Oni screamed in pain and fury as he thrashed madly at Kaiju, forcing him to backflip off the villain's shoulders.

"Go, I've got this!" Kaiju yelled as he looked back at Big Guy and Excelsior, who nodded in return and took off across the courtyard. Turning his attention back towards Oni, Kaiju saw that the villain had recovered from his attack, the flames having done little more than singe the mutated man's eyebrows.

" **Know you,"** Oni growled as he glared at Kaiju.

"Yeah, we've done this dance before," Kaiju replied as he bounced eagerly from foot to foot, "You looking for a rematch?"

" **Crush you!"** Oni roared before he charged at Kaiju, causing the young man to let out a warcry of his own as he rushed forward as well.

Flying low across the courtyard, Excelsior and Big Guy sped towards where Kitsune and Mezmerella were, the pair still staring into each other's eyes, heedless of the world around them. Suddenly, Phantasma stepped into their path, her expression blank as the pair barreled towards her. Then, just before Big Guy slammed into her, Phantasma leapt into the air, easily clearing the android before kicking Excelsior in the chest. The blow managed to knock Excelsior clear off Big Guy's back, sending the boy tumbling through the air before he crashed to the ground.

As Phantasma landed behind him, Big Guy spun himself around in midair before rushing back towards the woman. As he flew at her, Big Guy pulled his fist back into a haymaker, but she easily sidestepped the attack as he reached her. Landing hard on the ground, Big Guy threw another half dozen punches at her, but Phantasma managed to duck and dodge around each attack before she backflipped out of the android's reach. Steadying himself, Big Guy pointed an arm at Phantasma before firing a rocket fist at her. Seeing the attack coming, Phantasma stood her ground until the fist was practically on top of her.

And then Phantasma's entire form shifted.

At first, Excelsior wasn't sure what was happening, even as he watched it unfold as he kneeled on the ground. As he watched, a line of bluish light ran down Phantasma's body from the crown of her head to the bottoms of her feet. The transformation only took a split second, and when it was done, what had once been a pale skinned, dark haired woman dressed in black clothing was now a writhing, black mass in the shape of a person, the hem of what had once been a coat melding seamlessly into her back while three inch heels sprouted from the bottoms of her feet. Then, a line formed from the top of Phantasma's head down to her waist before her entire body split open along the line, bending outwards like a banana peel, allowing Big Guy's rocket fist to harmlessly pass through the empty space where her torso had once been.

As Phantasma reassembled herself back into her original shape, Excelsior realized what the wiggling black things she was made up of were.

"Microbots?" he questioned in shock as Big Guy's fist returned to him.

"Yeah, I got my hands on them and I just couldn't stop tinkering," Enigma said as he walked over to Phantasma's side, rolling the shoulder of his artificial arm as he did so.

"B-But how?" Excelsior questioned as he watched the blue light flash over Phantasma again and she returned to her original appearance. As Excelsior watched, Phantasma's body seemed to absorb her coat into her while her hair retracted until it was no longer than a pixie cut.

"I took a mass of microbots, linked them all together on an electronic neural network and added in a learning AI of my own creation," Enigma answered with a shrug as he looked Phantasma over, "I'll admit, the built-in, micro image inducers was more style than substance, but sometimes you've just gotta throw in a little pizzazz, you know? Hope you don't mind."

"Why would I mind?" Excelsior questioned wearily as he rose to his feet.

"Come on, kid, I'm not dumb," Enigma chided before he gestured at the battle happening around them, "All of this is your tech. Everything terrestrial, at least. Look, I'm sure some of the other members of your team are smart, maybe they've even got a couple PHDs among them, I don't know. But I can tell one thing straight away, and it's that you're the brains of this outfit."

"So you stole my tech?" Excelsior demanded as he glared at Enigma.

"Well, I did need to get the Professor his weapon of choice back," Enigma explained, "But I got to looking at some of your other stuff and I decided, I just had to have it."

"Other stuff?" Excelsior questioned wearily.

"Of course," Enigma answered with a chuckle before clenching his metal hand into a fist, causing a red plasma blade to suddenly burst from a section of the limb just above the wrist, "After all, they same imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

And then Enigma was rushing as him, the plasma blade held out to his side as he ran.

His eyes going wide in shock, Excelsior only had a split second to jump backward as Enigma slashed at him with the plasma blade, the attack scouring a cut into the ground that the boy had been standing on a moment before. Acting quickly, Excelsior pointed a fist towards Enigma and fired a taser dart at him, but with inhuman reflexes, the villain lifted his robotic arm up as a panel opened on it, allowing four prongs to extend out and form a small circular disc of energy similar to Big Guy's shield, which he used to easily block the attack. Then, grabbing the shield, Enigma disconnected it from his arm and hurled it at Excelsior, forcing the boy to duck as it whizzed by before arcing to return to the villain with a magnetic hum.

Seeing Excelsior in danger, Big Guy attempted to come to his aid, but found his path blocked by Phantasma, who threw a punch at the android as he approached, her arm extending unnaturally long to strike the robot in the face. As Big Guy reeled from the blow, Phantasma rushed forward, her arms morphing into a pair of tendrils. Lashing out, Phantasma latched onto Big Guy's armor with her tendrils before she pulled herself up onto his shoulders. Standing on his shoulders, Phantasma began to slam one of her feet repeatedly against Big Guy's head, prompting the android to try and grab her. As Big Guy wrapped his hands around Phantasma, her form shifted, allowing her microbots to flow between the android's fingers. Reforming back on Big Guy's shoulders, Phantasma shifted her arms into lashes again and used one to grab hold of one of the android's arms and pulled it against his body, quickly repeating the action when he tried to grab her with his other hand. With Big Guy's arms bound, Phantasma resumed her assault on his head with her foot.

Seeing this, Excelsior moved to help Big Guy, but was stopped when Enigma threw his disc at the boy, striking the ground at his feet, causing him to skid to a stop.

"You know, I get it," Enigma said as the disc returned to him, "It's smart having someone around to do your dirty work for you. But I think you'll find that sometimes you have to learn to do things yourself."

With that, Enigma rushed at him again, plasma blade at the ready. As Enigma slashed at him, Excelsior hopped backwards before shooting a pair of shock darts at him, but Enigma managed to block the attacks with his disc before hurling it at Excelsior. Acting quickly, Excelsior ducked under the disc, before extending his hand at it with his fingers splayed, using the magnetic glove to pull it to him and snag it out of the air.

"Not bad," Enigma admitted as he pointed his arm at Excelsior, before ports on the sides of his hand opened and it shot forward like one of Big Guy's rocket fists, the red plasma blade extended like a spearpoint. His eyes going wide, Excelsior rolled out of the way as the fist and blade slammed into the ground behind him. As Excelsior rolled to his feet, Enigma rushed at him before leaping into the air, something in his boots sending him flying higher than should have been physically possible. As he did, a port opened on the bottom of his arm, from which a nozzle emerged that began spiting flames down at Excelsior. Using the disc, Excelsior protected himself from the flames before throwing it at Enigma as the villain landed. However, Enigma caught the disc with his metal arm before pointing it at Excelsior, who noticed that it ended in a tube now that his hand was detached. A moment later, Enigma fired a trio of pink chemballs, which struck Excelsior on the legs and exploded into pink goo that held him fast.

"But not good enough," Enigma added as his rocket fist returned to him and locked back into place.

Excelsior struggled to free himself from the goo as Enigma walked towards him. Growling in frustration, Excelsior turned his attention back towards Enigma and fired more shock darts at him, but the villain easily blocked the attacks. Standing over Excelsior, Enigma extended his plasma blade and held it up to the boy's throat.

"You know, it doesn't have to be this way," Enigma stated as he looked down at Excelsior.

"What?" Excelsior asked in confusion.

"This doesn't have to be the end," Enigma explained, "For you, at least."

"What are you talking about?" Excelsior questioned, glancing wearily between the plasma blade and Enigma's shadowed face.

"Look around you," Enigma instructed. Hesitantly, Excelsior pulled his gaze from the plasma blade at looked at the battle raging around them.

"You see your friends?" Enigma questioned as Excelsior's gaze fell on Ultraviolet. Currently, the young woman was battling with Yokai, holding his swarm of microbots back with one of her barriers. Spreading her arms, Ultraviolet caused the barrier to expand, scattering Yokai's swarm before she dropped the barrier and rushed towards the villain as he loomed over her on a column of the tiny robots. Thrusting her fist forward, Ultraviolet created an orb shaped projectile that slammed into the column, knocking it out from under Yokai. Landing on the ground with a grunt, Yokai tried to pull himself back to his feet, but was stopped as Ultraviolet pinned him down with a barrier dome.

As Yokai struggled against the barrier, Ultraviolet stood over him and reached down towards his mask. Before she could grab it though, a tendril of microbots wrapped around her wrist and held it in place. Looking at in shock, Ultraviolet struggled against the tendril for a moment before it yanked her backwards, pulling her off her feet and slamming her onto the ground a short distance away.

As Ultraviolet picked herself up, the microbots swarmed over her. Grunting with effort, Ultraviolet formed a barrier dome around herself, pushing the swarm back, causing the barrier holding Yokai down to drop. Rising back to his feet, Yokai held his arms out towards Ultraviolet and made a clenching movement with his hands, causing the microbots to swarm over the hero's dome.

"I gave you the chance to walk away," Yokai said as the microbots swarmed onto the dome and began to constrict. Inside the swarm, Ultraviolet stood with arms outstretched, sweat forming on her brow as her legs started to shake from the strain.

"They're as good as dead," Enigma continued as Excelsior's eyes drifted to where Rollergrrl and Torque were racing around the courtyard. As they approached the prison itself, Torque began to gain on Rollergrrl, prompting the hero to throw a disc at the villain. Seeing the attack coming, Rollergrrl ducked under it, slowing her down enough for Torque to catch up to her. Before Torque could grab her though, Rollergrrl leapt up towards the prison, the wall of the building glowing green under her feet as she glided along it.

Torque raced along the ground beneath Rollergrrl, but was thrown off when the villain came to a stop on the wall. Skidding to a halt, Torque looked back at Rollergrrl, the villain's hands and feet glowing green as she clung to the wall. Smirking, Rollergrrl wiggled her fingers at Torque before sliding down the wall and returning to the ground. Glaring at the other woman, Torque went charging towards Rollergrrl, who stood her ground, hands on her hips as she watched the hero rush towards her.

As Torque drew closer, Rollergrrl lifted one foot before stamping it against the ground. The moment her foot made contact with the ground, a wave of green energy radiated out from her. As Torque rolled over the energized ground, her discs suddenly lost traction, causing her feet to kick out from under her. Hitting the ground, Torque found that it had somehow become slick as ice, her momentum causing her to slide along the ground towards Rollergrrl. Grinning manically, Rollergrrl spun in place and slammed the heel of her boot into Torque's face as she slid past her, the force of the blow enough to crack the hero's visor and snap her head against the ground.

As Torque lay dazed on the ground, she continued sliding until she reached the end of the energy field and finally came to a stop. Groaning in pain, Torque managed to push herself to her hands and knees, lifting her head enough to see Rollergrrl skating towards her before lowering herself into a slide, her booted foot raised and aimed directly at the hero's face.

"You've all bit off more than you can chew," Enigma went on as Excelsior looked at where Laserblade was fighting with El Macho.

His plasma blades drawn, Laserblade slashed at El Macho, but the villain dodged with a nimbleness that caught the hero off guard. Ducking under Laserblade's follow up attack, El Macho stepped inside the hero's reach before slamming his shoulder into the young man's chest, sending him stumbling back. Catching himself, Laserblade took another swing at El Macho as the villain rushed him, but the older man grabbed the hero's arm and held it fast. Desperately, Laserblade swung his other arm at El Macho, but the villain caught this attack as well, holding the hero's arms outstretched at his sides.

"What is de matter, little man?" El Macho questioned as Laserblade struggled against his grip, "Can't fight wit honor? Need jor weapons to do jor fighting for joo?"

As El Macho spoke, he tightened his grip on Laserblade's arms, causing the metal to groan with strain. Then, in a shower of sparks, El Macho crushed Laserblade's gauntlets, the young man letting out a cry of pain as his plasma blades sputtered and died. Laserblade's cries were then cut off as El Macho slammed his head against the hero's face, dazing the young man as his visor cracked under the blow. Holding the young man up by his arms, El Macho headbutted him again, forcing Laserblade to his knees as blood began trickling out of his nose. Releasing Laserblade's arms, El Macho let him fall to his knees and regarded the hero with contempt for a moment before kicking him in the chest, sending the young man rolling across the ground.

"Come now, joo must have more fight den dat," El Macho chided as he walked over to Laserblade and grabbed the hero by the back of his armor before hauling him off the ground, "On jour feet!"

Getting his feet under him, Laserblade managed to shake off El Macho's grip before punching the taller man in the face. The blow seemed to do little more than daze El Macho, who shook his head as he looked down at Laserblade.

"My _abuela_ heet harder dan joo," El Macho stated before punching Laserblade in the face, the blow connecting with a sickening crunch, blood freely running down his face now as he stumbled back. Catching himself, Laserblade threw a punch at El Macho as the villain approached him, but the older man sidestepped the attack before grabbing hold of the hero's outstretched arm. Turning around, El Macho held Laserblade's arm over his shoulder before yanking it downward, bending the young man's elbow in the wrong direction and eliciting a cry of pain. Still holding Laserblade's arm, El Macho then flipped the hero over his shoulder and slammed the young man against the ground.

As Laserblade lay stunned on the ground, El Macho reached down and wrapped his arms around the hero's chest. Lifting Laserblade off the ground, El Macho performed a German suplex, the force of the blow knocking some of the surrounding loose rocks into the air. Using Laserblade as a pivot point, El Macho flipped over the hero, still gripping his torso before lifting him up and slamming him shoulders first onto the ground, leaving the young man curled up with his feet flanking his head. Reaching down, El Macho wrapped his arms around Laserblade's stomach and lifted the young man up so his legs were draped over the villain's shoulders before the older man powerbombed him onto the ground, the force of the blow cracking the ground beneath them. Still holding onto Laserblade, El Macho shifted his grip to the hero's legs and spun in a circle before hammer tossing the young man away.

As Laserblade rolled to a stop, he lay on the ground looking up at the night sky, unable to move. His head was still spinning from the throw and the vicious series of slams left his whole body screaming in agony. As he lay on the ground, chokingly trying to regain his breath, Laserblade could do nothing as El Macho walked up and loomed over the young man.

"Padetic," El Macho observed with a shake of his head, "If joo were goeen to lose so badly, joo could have at least done me de honor of makeen it entertaineen."

Reaching down, El Macho grabbed hold of Laserblade before lifting the young man above his head with both hands.

"Let's put an end to dis, shall we?" El Macho questioned as Laserblade hung helplessly in his grasp.

"Rookie mistake," Enigma commented with a chuckle as Excelsior watched Kaiju fighting with Oni.

Roaring in fury, Oni charge at Kaiju, heedless of the fire the hero was spewing at him. Letting out a yelp of surprise, Kaiju leapt to the side as Oni lifted his fists and slammed them down on the spot where the hero had been standing, the force of the blow sending chunks of earth flying. Catching himself, Kaiju leapt at Oni and hit the villain in the chest with both feet, but the blow didn't budge the monstrous man an inch and Kaiju bounced harmlessly off him, landing backfirst on the ground.

Laying stunned for a moment, Kaiju was unprepared as Oni reached down and grabbed the hero by the foot. Lifting him up, Oni glared at the dangling Kaiju before smashing him against the ground, repeating the process six more times as he whipped his arm back and forth. After the final slam, Kaiju managed to get his other foot under him and tried to superjump away, but Oni retained his grip on the hero's leg and dragged him back to the ground.

" **No jumping!"** Oni snarled, planting his foot against Kaiju's chest, grabbing his legs with both hands and yanking on the limps, the legs of the suit ripping away with a tearing sound and a shower of sparks.

Stumbling back as the legs gave way, Oni lifted them up and looked at them in confusion. Kaiju used the opportunity to pick himself up off the ground and start running away on his now exposed human legs. Seeing this, Oni grinned as he tossed the suit legs to the side.

" **Little legs!"** Oni laughed as she stomped after Kaiju, his long strides quickly gaining ground, **"Like bug!"**

Stepping up behind Kaiju, Oni kicked the hero in the back, knocking him flat. As Kaiju rolled over onto his back, Oni reached down and dug his claws into the ground between them. Grunting as the muscles in his arms strained with effort, Oni yanked on the ground until a large slab of concrete broke away. Lifting the slab above his head, Oni loomed over Kaiju as the hero tried to scramble away.

" **Crush you!"** Oni declared, **"Like bug!"**

"But that's not what has to happen to you," Enigma said as Excelsior's gaze shifted to where Miss Chemistry was facing off against Bomb Voyage.

Palming an explosive device, Bomb Voyage hurled it at Miss Chemistry, but the hero countered by throwing a blue chemball at it, which exploded into an ice formation that surrounded the explosive and rendered it inert. His expression impressed as the ice thudded against the ground, Bomb Voyage pulled half a dozen explosives off his bandoliers before grinning as he hurled them at Miss Chemistry.

Reacting quickly, Miss Chemistry rapidly typed a series of chemical compounds into her bag, which produced a green chemball that she quickly grabbed and spiked against the ground. As the chemball burst, it produced a green liquid that formed a dome around Miss Chemistry before solidifying into a hard resin. A moment later, the explosives impacted against the dome, the force of the blasts shattering the resin and sending Miss Chemistry rolling across the ground.

As Miss Chemistry pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, she looked up at Bomb Voyage as he approached her, clapping his hands slowly.

"Bravo," Bomb Voyage congratulated her, "Bravo."

Her eyes narrowing, Miss Chemistry palmed a pink chemball she had made before tossing it at Bomb Voyage, striking the villain in the hands just as they were coming together for another clap, releasing pink goo that encased the villain's hands. Looking at his hands in surprise, Bomb Voyage struggled with the sticky goo before glaring at Miss Chemistry as she threw another pink chemball at him. Ducking his head, Bomb Voyage managed to avoid the chemball before he pulled an explosive off of his bandolier with his teeth and spat it at Miss Chemistry. The hero's eyes went wide with surprise as the explosive tumbled towards her before it exploded with a bright flash and a deafening bang.

Her ears ringing, Miss Chemistry rapidly blinked her eyes as she tried to remove the spots that were clouding her vision. After a moment, her vision cleared, though the ringing in her ears remained as she watched Bomb Voyage say something to her, having managed to free himself from the goo while she was distracted.

"What!?" Miss Chemistry questioned louder than necessary.

Slumping his shoulders as he clearly let out a sigh, Bomb Voyage pointed at something. Following the line of his finger, Miss Chemistry looked down at her back before her heart froze in terror as she saw one of Bomb Voyage's explosives attached to the side with some sort of adhesive. Looking back at Bomb Voyage, Miss Chemistry saw that the man was now crouching down with his eyes shut and his fingers stuck in his ears.

Acting quickly, Miss Chemistry unslung the bag from her shoulder before using the strap to toss it as hard as she could. Mere moments after the bag left her hands, the Bomb Voyage's device went off, causing the bag to explode with titanic force, the blast wave knocking Miss Chemistry off her feet and sending her rolling across the ground. Bruised and battered, Miss Chemistry pushed herself up enough to watch the remains of her bag fall to the earth as burning debris while an ugly cloud of black smoke rose into the air.

"Now zhat ees what I call a chemeecal reaction!" Bomb Voyage cheered, his eyes filled with a violent intensity that frightened Miss Chemistry as they turned towards her.

"But, alas, like all great works of art, our beautiful partnership must come to an end, _Mademoiselle_ ," he continued, placing one hand theatrically to his chest while using the other to pull an explosive off his bandolier.

" _C'est la vie_ ," Bomb Voyage finished with a shrug, before activating the explosive and tossing it at Miss Chemistry.

"Because, you see, you've got that certain spark," Enigma went on as Enigma looked to where the Underminer's drill tank was chasing after the van.

Flying backwards, the van shot off another pulse blast, but it barely shook the drill tank as it trundled along after the flying vehicle.

"Such a puny weapon can not shake my creation!" the Underminer's voice bellowed through the drill tank's loudspeaker, "Behold the true might of the Underminer!"

With that, the drill tank fired off another salvo of rockets, the projectiles leaving over a dozen tails of smoke in their wake as they shot towards the van.

"Oh!" Driver shouted, her voice panicked, "I can't avoid all those!"

"Be worrying nots!" the Strange Visitor declared as he adjusted some of the devices set into the vehicle's dashboard, "Shields are being set to their maximum-"

The Boov's words were cut off as the rockets slammed into the glowing, translucent sphere that surrounded the van, causing it to sputter and die under the assault as the console in front of the Strange Visitor exploded in a shower of sparks. Letting out a scream of surprise and pain, Strange Visitor swatted at the burning sparks that assaulted his face as he was rocked back into his chair.

"Oh!" the Driver screamed before letting out a wail of fear as a projectile pierced the bottom of the van, penetrating into the passenger area with a screech of bending metal. Looking back, Driver saw that it was some kind of harpoon-like device covered in prongs that held fast to the van. Looking back out the windshield, she saw that a metal cable trailed behind the harpoon, connecting it to some form of cannon that had risen out of the drill tank's back.

"You have been struck!" the Underminer declared as the drill tank rolled to a stop before the cable began to retract into the cannon, dragging the van down with it, "Now see what it is to be grounded!"

Grabbing hold of the van's controls, Driver yanked back hard while slamming her foot on the accelerator, causing the vehicle to try and fly upwards away from the drill tank, but the harpoon held it fast, though she managed to stop the van's descent.

"Oh no, no, no," the Underminer chided, "We shall have none of that!"

A moment later, a pulse of electricity shot up the cable before surging into the van, shocking Driver and Strange Visitor while completely shorting out the van's systems. As the lights in the van died, so did its engines, causing it to plummet back to the ground. Screaming in fear as she held her shocked arms close to her chest, Driver could do nothing as the van slammed against the ground, the force of the crash throwing Strange Visitor through the passenger side window and onto the ground outside in a shower of broken glass.

Her now broken sunglasses hanging askew, Driver whimpered as she reached up and touched the large bruise that was now forming on her forehead from where she had hit it against the steering wheel in the crash. So frightened and distracted was she that she failed to notice the Underminer walking up to her side of the van until he had grabbed the door with his robotic gauntlets and ripped it free with a piercing shriek of ripping metal. As Driver screamed in fear, Underminer tossed the door away before grabbing her and yanking her out of the van, her seatbelt holding her fast for a single, painful moment before snapping against the villain's strength.

"Why, you're just a child," Underminer observed as he held the Driver aloft, her feet kicking as she struggled against his metal grip. As she fought, a cold chill filled her heart as Underminer's grip shifted so he was holding her by her throat.

"Children are so much easier to end," the Underminer commented as a savage smile crossed his face and his gauntlet squeezed on Driver's windpipe. Panic filling her eyes, Driver began to struggle twice as hard against the Underminer's grip, her legs flailing wildly as throat burned and tears began filling her eyes.

"Something I recognize from when I was your age," Enigma said as Excelsior watched the Strange Visitor pick himself up off the ground with a groan, small burns and cuts maring the Boov's face.

His gaze drifting to where Underminer and the Driver were, Strange Visitor let out a shocked gasp as he saw the villain strangling the girl.

"Tip!" Strange Visitor screamed as he scrambled to his feet, "Tip, I am comings!"

Before Strange Visitor could run over to where the Driver and Underminer were, however, Balthazar Bratt stepped in front of the Boov, blocking the way.

"Sorry, E.T.," Bratt said with a shake of his head, "No can do."

His skin turning an angry shade of red, the Strange Visitor let out a high-pitched scream of challenge before charging at Bratt, his arm tentacles flailing wildly. Smirking, Bratt shifted his stance, raising his arms above his head while standing on one foot, lifting his other foot so his knee was near his chest.

"Hiya!" Bratt shouted before jumping and snapping a kick at Strange Visitor, striking the Boov in the face and knocking him onto his back, the alien's skin returning to its normal, purple shade as he let out a dazed groan.

"Shamone!" Bratt yelled as he moonwalked over to where Strange Visitor lay before spinning in place, lifting his leg, and stamping hard on the Boov's chest, eliciting a pained wheeze from the alien.

"You know, that color changing trick is pretty cool," Bratt observed before a predator grin spread across his face as he shifted his foot so he was standing on Strange Visitor's throat, "I wonder what color you'll turn when you die?"

Gasping for breath as Bratt's heel pressed down on his throat, Strange Visitor's skin turned a panicked shade of yellow as he flailed around, trying to free himself.

"I could teach you things. Things no self-righteous hero would," Enigma said as Excelsior looked over to where Big Guy was still fighting with Phantasma.

His arms still bound by Phantasma's lashes, Big Guy managed to clench his left hand into a fist, causing his shield to activate, slicing through the lash as it expanded and sending the microbots flying. With his hand free, Big Guy reached up and grabbed Phantasma before throwing her off his shoulder, causing her to release her grip on his other hand. Flying through the air, Phantasma flipped around before landing on her feet as the rest of her microbots returned to her.

As Phantasma recollected herself, Big Guy lifted his right arm and fired a rocket fist at her. Seeing the attack coming, Phantasma rushed forward, easily rolling under the fist before rushing at Big Guy. As she reached him, Phantasma shifted her arms into dozens of small tendrils that she thrust at Big Guy, the squirming strands of microbots aiming towards his outstretched arm. Before Big Guy could react, the tendrils thrust themselves into the gaps in his armor and began swarming forward underneath his protective shell.

Taking a step back, Big Guy attempted to pull out of Phantsma's grip, but she held fast, the armor of his arm buckling and sparking as the microbots wrecked havoc beneath it. Suddenly, there was a loud popping noise as Big Guy went stock still before slowly crumpling to the ground with the sound of a deflating balloon. As Big Guy collapsed, Phantasma retracted her tendrils before walking over to where the android lay.

"Your internal structure is easily ruptured," Phantasma observed as she stood over Big Guy, "This is an inferior design for combat operations."

"I waaaas not built fffor com-com-com-...ffffighting," Big Guy replied, his voice slurred and electronically distorted, "I wassss designed f-f-f-...tooo heeelp peoplllle."

"Illogical," Phantasma stated flatly, "There is nothing to be gained from such action. To aid humans in such a way is illogical."

Her hands shifting back into tendrils, Phantasma lashed at Big Guy again, latching onto his chest plate before tearing it off in a shower of sparks and broken metal, revealing the android's rubbery, deflated form. Moving so that she was straddling Big Guy's chest, Phantasma looked down at the android as one of her hands shifted into a series of small prongs.

"Your programming is inferior," Phantasma observed dispassionately, "I shall erase it."

Reaching down, Phantasma thrust the prongs into the panel on Big Guy's chest, causing the android to convulse violently, the robotic woman watching without a hint of sympathy.

"So, what do you say, kid?" Enigma questioned, drawing Excelsior's attention back to him, "Do you want to die here? Or do you want to help us change the world?"

Excelsior looked up at Enigma with a lost moment, and then realized to his horror that he was actually considering Enigma's offer. At that point, a noise caught his attention and Excelsior looked at Kitsune and Mezzmerella. The pair were still standing where the had been before, oblivious to the world around them, though now, Excelsior could see Kitsune's shoulders shakening, and realized after a moment that she was crying. His face twisting in rage, Excelsior turned his attention back towards Enigma.

"Go to hell," Excelsior spat.

At this, Enigma sighed and shook his head in disappointment.

"Such a waste," he bemoaned.

Then he lifted his robotic arm and swung the plasma blade down at Excelsior.

A/N: So obviously, this ended up being a massive chapter, but I couldn't help it, there was just so much action to write! Hope you guys liked it! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	18. The Cavalry

**Chapter 18: The Cavalry**

Before Enigma could bring the plasma blade down on Excelsior, a pulsing sound came from behind the hero before an energy blast struck the villain in the chest, knocking him off his feet and sending him rolling across the ground. Blinking in surprise, Excelsior looked over his shoulder and found Megamind standing behind him, his ray gun pointed at the spot Enigma had just been occupying.

"Ollo," Megamind greeted as he lowered his arm and gave Excelsior a friendly smile, "Seems like you could use some help."

As Excelsior stared at Megamind in uncomprehending confusion, a guttural roar caught his attention. Looking over, Excelsior spotted Kid Incredible, currently in his red monster form, leaping through the air towards Yokai. The supervillain, for his part, had only enough time to look at Kid Incredible in shock before the hero slammed into him, knocking Yokai clear off his column of microbots, sending them both crashing to the ground.

"LEAVE VIOLET ALONE!" Kid screamed as he began to beat on Yokai. For a moment, Yokai could do nothing but try to shield himself from the blows with his arms. Then, with a grasping motion, Yokai managed to wrap a tendril of microbots around Kid's stomach before yanking the hero off. As Kid Incredible was pulled off though, he managed to get in a kick that struck Yokai on the chin and knocked his mask clear off his face. With his mask removed, Yokai's microbot swarm suddenly deactivated and collapsed to the ground, the tendril that had been holding Kid Incredible falling apart, what momentum that was generated from it pulling him off the villain sending him flying a short distance before he landed on the ground on all fours.

As the microbots deactivated and tumbled to the ground around her, Ultraviolet lowered her barrier dome and fell to her knees, taking deep, gasping breaths. Seeing this, Kid Incredible returned to his normal form before running over to Ultraviolet's side.

"Are you okay, Violet?" Kid Incredible asked as he looked at his sister with concern.

"Yeah, buddy, thanks," Violet replied breathlessly as she ruffled his hair and kissed his forehead affectionately before she looked at him in confusion, "But what are you doing here?"

"Mommy and Daddy got a call about bad guys," Kid explained with childish enthusiasm, "We came here in a superfast plane with our new friends!"

With a roar, Oni brought the concrete slab down on Kaiju, but was stopped as Mr. Incredible stepped between them and caught the villain's arms midswing. As Oni looked down at the hero in confusion, Mr. Incredible raised his head and smirked up at the villain.

"You're pretty big," Mr. Incredible observed as his smirk grew into a full-fledged grin, "But I've fought bigger."

With that, Mr. Incredible slammed one of his elbows into Oni's stomach, the force of the blow doubling the villain over as the air was forced out of his lungs. As Oni wheezed in pain, Mr. Incredible uppercut him hard on the chin, the force of the blow creating a small shockwave as the villain was forced back into a standing position and sent him stumbling backwards. In the process of reeling from the blow, Oni dropped the slab of concrete he had been carrying, which Mr. Incredible easily snagged out of the air with both hands. Pivoting in place, Mr. Incredible spun around before smacking Oni with the slab, sending the villain flying in a shower of concrete as the bludgeon shattered from the force of the blow. As Oni landed a short distance away, Mr. Incredible tossed what remained of the slab on the ground and turned his attention towards Kaiju, who was still laying on his back, having watched events unfold in shocked silence.

"You okay, kid?" Mr. Incredible asked as he offered Kaiju a hand.

"You're Mr. Incredible," Kaiju muttered dumbly.

"Sure am," Mr. Incredible said with a slightly exasperated tone, "Now, are you getting up or are you just going to lay there all night?"

Snapping back to his senses, Kaiju took the offered hand and let Mr. Incredible help him back to his feet.

With a grunt, El Macho pulled Laserblade down while putting out a knee to break the hero's back against. Before he could follow through on the blow, however, a large hand came reaching in, cupping Laserblade's back and cushioning him against the blow. As El Macho looked at the hand in surprise, the fingers wrapped around Laserblade before yanking him out of the villain's grasp. Following the hand, El Macho found Elastigirl standing near by, pulling Laserblade back to her and gently depositing the hero on the ground behind her.

"You okay, son?" Elastigirl questioned, doing her best to not take her eyes off El Macho.

"Gotta admit, he kicked my ass pretty hard," Laserblade admitted with a pain filled whisper.

"You just stay down then," Elastigirl said, clear concern in her voice, "We'll get you looked at."

"Careful," Laserblade said emphatically, "He hits like a truck."

"Oh, don't worry, sweetheart," Elastigirl replied with a confident smirk, "This isn't my first rodeo."

Turning her attention fully towards El Macho, Elastigirl found the villain stalking towards her.

"Elastigirl," El Macho greeted, an excited gleam in his eye.

"Hey, Macho, it's been a while, huh?" Elastigirl questioned as the villain continued stalking towards her, "You know I've always meant to ask but how sweaty do you get under that full mask of yours, because, let me tell you, just this little one causes me to-"

Elastigirl was cut off as El Macho threw a punch at her head, prompting her to juke to the side with surprising swiftness. Dodging his two follow up attacks, Elastigirl snapped her arm at El Macho and punched him in the face. Barely dazed by the blow, El Macho grabbed hold of Elastigirl's wrist and tried to yank her towards him, but only managed to stretch her rubbery arm more. Snapping her other arm like a whip, Elastigirl wrapped it around El Macho's leg before yanking it out from under him. Wrapping her other arm around one of El Macho's, Elastigirl lifted the villain off his feet, and whipped him around before tossing him away.

Rolling back to his feet, El Macho charged at Elastigirl, who rushed him head on. Reaching her, El Macho wrapped his arms around Elastigirl's stomach, but before he could do anything, she swung her legs around and wrapped them around the villain's neck. Slipping out of El Macho's grip, Elastigirl swung herself around the villain's neck with her legs before using the momentum to flip around and throw the man to the ground. As El Macho pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, Elastigirl stepped forward and backflipped while kicking the villain in the head, knocking him down.

Laying on the ground, Torque could do nothing but watch as Rollergrrl slid along the ground with her foot raised to strike the hero. Right before the impact though, there was a whooshing sounds before Rollergrrl was snatched away in a blur of motion. Blinking in surprise, Torque lifted herself up enough to watch as the blur spun around rapidly before Rollergrrl was ejected and thrown into the wall of the prison. Then, in the blink of an eye, Torque disappeared with another whoosh.

Blinking in confusion, Torque glanced around and found she was speeding through the courtyard. Looking up, Torque found the Dash holding her bridal style as he ran, the young man smirking down at her when he noticed her looking at him.

"Don't worry, babe," the Dash said as he winked at Torque, "I've got you."

Torque could only groan in response as Dash carried her over to where Laserblade was laying on the ground before zipping away again. As Dash put her down, Torque's eyes widened in shock as she saw Laserblade.

"Darron?" Torque whispered, grunting in pain as she pulled himself over to him, "Darron, are you okay?"

"I've been better," Laserblade replied before groaning in pain.

"It's okay," Torque said as she nervously touched Laserblade's chest, "Help is here."

Time seemed to slow down as Miss Chemistry watched Bomb Voyage's explosive tumbled through the air. Then, just before it reached her, a beam of icy blue light shot in from the side, striking the explosive and freezing it solid. Her eyes going wide in shock, Miss Chemistry watched as the explosive thudded to the ground in front of her. Looking shocked as well, Bomb Voyage's expression turned to one of rage as he watched Frozone approach on an ice slide.

"Frozone," Bomb Voyage spat as Frozone slid between him and Miss Chemistry.

"Bomb Voyage," Frozone replied, "Still throwing explosive devices at innocent people, I see. The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Snarling, Bomb Voyage grabbed a few devices off his bandolier and threw them at Frozone. Snapping a hand out, Frozone blasted the ground in front of him, rapidly forming an ice wall that the explosives detonated again. Creating an ice column beneath him, Frozone lifted himself over the wall before blasting Bomb Voyage in the chest, knocking the villain off his feet and sending him rolling across the ground.

As the Underminer's grip tightened on her throat, the Driver's struggles grew weaker and weaker as her chest burned from lack of oxygen. Suddenly, just as her vision was starting to darken, Driver saw a hand placed on the Underminer's gauntlet. Looking to the side, the Underminer and the Driver both found Ginormica standing next to them.

"How about you pick on someone your own size?" Ginormica questioned as she glared at the Underminer before squeezing, the gauntlet rupturing with a shower of sparks and broken metal as the villain let out a cry of alarm and dropped the Driver to the ground. Once the Driver was safely out of the Underminer's grasp, Ginormica's touched her watch, causing her to be surrounded by an aura of blue light before she grew to her full height, holding the villain's arm between her thumb and forefinger.

"Or, you know, not," Ginormica amended before tossing Underminer away with a flick of her wrist, sending the villain tumbling through the air before he crashed to the ground on the other side of the courtyard. Then, bending down, Ginormica scooped the drill tank up with one hand and tossed it in the same direction.

"And take your toy with you!" Ginormica called as the drill tank spun through the air, forcing the Underminer to scramble to safety as it slammed onto the ground behind him, coming to a stop on its side.

Balthazar Bratt, still standing on the Strange Visitor's throat, watched the display with an amazed expression.

"Yo, Freddie Mercury!" a voice called from behind Bratt. Turning towards it, Bratt was met by the sight of the Missing Link's scaled fist a moment before it slammed into his face with a meaty thwack, the force of the blow knocking the villain clear off his feet. As Bratt lay stunned on the ground, Link marched over and grabbed hold of the villain's leg.

"Hey, the eighties called, they want their….well geez, everything back," Link quipped before spinning around and tossing Bratt, sending the villain tumbling across the rocky ground with grunts of pain.

Kitsune wasn't sure where she was, but wherever it was, it was a nightmare. After Mezmerella had pushed her into the white, liquid remains of her microbots, it had seemingly become a bottomless sea of viscous liquid. Pumping her arms and legs, Kitsune tried to swim out of the stuff, but couldn't seem to make any headway, feeling her lungs ache and burn as the liquid began to seep into her nose and mouth while her ears were filled with the sound of Mezmerella's unearthly laughter.

Then, all of a sudden, the liquid shifted in color to a light shade of blue and Kitsune found herself staring into a large, monocular eye.

"Are you okay!?" a voice boomed and then suddenly, whatever spell Kitsune had been under broke and she found herself back in the prison courtyard, letting out a gasp as she released a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. Looking around to regain her bearings, Kitsune found Mezmerella standing a short distance away, with B.O.B. having managed to wedge himself between them, his concerned gaze focused on the hero as she sank to her knees.

"Oh, there you are," B.O.B. said, a note of relief in his voice, "You guys were just like, staring at each other for like five minutes and I was starting to get worried."

"What are you doing!?" Mezmerella hissed angrily after shaking her head clear.

"Hey, I don't know about you but I think she needs to see a doctor or something," B.O.B. replied as he turned to face Mezmerella while gesturing back towards Kitsune with one of his pseudoarms, "I think-"

"Move!" Mezmerella shouted, the lenses of her mask glowing bright yellow as she glared at B.O.B., who let out a loud gasp, his jaw hanging slack as his eye went as wide as a dinner plate. B.O.B. held this position for a moment before he blinked and looked at Mezmerella in confusion.

"Is something supposed to be happening right now?" B.O.B. stage whispered as he glanced around.

"What!?" Mezmerella hissed in shock, taking a step away from B.O.B. as her lenses stopped glowing.

"I mean, you got all intense right there and then your eyes started glowing, so I kind of figured something was supposed to be happening," B.O.B. explained awkwardly, "But I-"

"B.O.B.!" Link shouted in aggravation from a short distance away, drawing the blob's attention as he gestured emphatically at Mezmerella, "Supervillain!"

"Oh!" B.O.B. exclaimed as he turned his attention back towards Mezmerella and seemed to see her for the first time, "Right! Sorry!"

Then, opening his jaw wide, B.O.B. wrapped his mouth around Mezmerella's entire upper body, the supervillain's screams muffled as she kicked her legs about to try and escape. Tilting his head back, B.O.B. lifted Mezmerella's feet off the ground before he spat her out with enough force to send the villain flying through the air.

As Big Guy continued to spasm beneath her, Phantasma placed a foot against the android's chest to keep him from moving around so much as she continued to drive her microbots into his dataports.

"You know," a small, high-pitched voice said suddenly, "I understand he's a robot, but don't you think this is needlessly harmful?"

Looking towards the source of the voice, Phantasma spotted a miniaturized Doctor Cockroach standing on her shoulder.

"Identify yourself," Phantasma demanded.

"I'm, uh, your conscious?" Doc provided hopefully.

Receiving only a blank stare in reply, Doc sighed.

"That would have worked better if I was part cricket, wouldn't it?" Doc questioned.

In response, Phantasma attempted to grab hold of Doc with her free hand, but the scientist hopped out of her grasp before touching the device on his wrist and shifting back to his normal size midair, allowing him to dropkick the villain in the chest and knock her off Big Guy, the android's spasms ceasing as soon as Phantasma's microbots were disconnected from him. Quickly rolling to her feet, Phantasma formed a lash with one of her hands and swung it at Doc, but the hero managed to avoid the attack by rapidly shifting his size, taking a moment to study the structure of the villain's arm as he dodged the blow.

"Fascinating, so you're made up of hundreds of individual machines?" Doc observed, ducking as he avoided another one of Phantasma's attacks, "I imagine they must be controlled by some kind of centralized intelligence. A hive mind of sorts, perhaps?"

As Doc hypothesized, Phantasma lashed at him with both tendrils, quickly wrapping them around the hero's body. In response, Doc simply tapped his watch again and shrunk down to miniature size, easily escaping Phantasma's grasp in the process.

"That being true," Doc continued, rubbing his chin ponderously as he returned to normal size, "Your network would most likely be disrupted by a strong enough electrical charge."

Fishing into the pockets of his lab coat, Doc quickly retrieved a few pieces of scrap metal and some electrical components.

"Good thing I disassembled the breakroom toaster before coming here," Doc said with a grin as he held the items up.

In response, Phantasma lashed at him again, but once more Doc dodged by hopping into the air and shrinking. Landing on Phantasma's extended lash, Doc ran down it as fast as his little legs could carry him, working with the components as he ran. Spotting him, Phantasma shifted the microbots in her arm in an attempt to capture him, but Doc leapt free of her grasp once more. Sailing through the air, Doc shifted back to normal size as he landed in front of Phantasma, a crude, sparking device now in one hand.

Before Phantasma could react, Doc slammed the device against her chest, the contraption sending electricity surging into the villain as it clung to her. Throwing her head back, Phantasma let out an electronic wail as her image inducers failed, her form shifting back to that of a human-shaped mass of microbots that quickly began to lose cohesion.

Hearing Phantasma's distress, Enigma turned his attention towards the robot as Doc took a step away from her. Picking himself up, Enigma began racing over to where Phantasma was slowly sinking into a pile of microbots.

"Stop right there!" Megamind ordered as he pointed his ray gun at Enigma and fired off a shot, but the villain managed to deflect the attack by extending his disc and batting the blast away.

Reaching Phantasma's side, Enigma extended his plasma blade and swung it at Doc, who quickly shrank to avoid the attack. With Doc distracted, Enigma grabbed hold of the device with his robotic arm and yanked it off of Phantasma before crushing it.

"I think we've overstayed our welcome," Enigma mused as Phantasma began putting herself back together before he turned his attention towards where Underminer was picking himself up off the ground, "Underminer! We need an exit! Now!"

Nodding his head in reply, Underminer quickly pushed himself back to his feet before scrambling towards where his drill tank lay.

"Oh no you don't!" Ginormica shouted before she began stomping towards the Underminer, her gigantic strides quickly gaining ground on the villain.

Seeing this, Rollergrrl picked herself up before she went skating across the courtyard. Reaching the spot where Yokai was recovering, Rollergrrl scooped his mask off the ground before skidding to a halt.

"Professor!" Rollergrrl called, catching Yokai's attention before tossing his mask towards him. Snatching the mask out of the air, Yokai quickly put it on and raised his hands up to shoulder height, causing his microbots to stir and swarm around him. Thrusting his hands towards Ginormica, he sent a swarm of microbots surging towards her before they leapt up and grabbed at her legs. Grunting in surprise, Ginormica stopped and turned her attention towards the microbots, struggling with them as they continuously grabbed at her arms and legs.

Taking advantage of the distraction, the Underminer managed to crawl back into his drill tank and power it up. A moment later, and the drill tank's cylindrical body began to spin until it managed to get its treds back under it. Once it had done that, the door on its side opened up as its drill began to spin.

"Alright, everyone aboard!" Enigma shouted as he and Phantasma moved towards the drill tank, prompting the other villains to as well.

"Don't let them get away!" Mr. Incredible shouted as he pointed towards the drill tank, leading to the heroes charging towards it.

"Oh no no," Bomb Voyage said as he stopped in front of the ramp leading into the drill tank and grabbed some explosives from his bandoliers. Tossing them into the air, Bomb Voyage turned away from them as the explosives detonate with blinding flashes of lights, catching the heroes off guard and stunning them. Following this up, Rollergrrl stopped next to Bomb Voyage before placing her hand down on the ground, sending her energy spreading out towards the heroes, causing them to lose their footing and fall to the ground. With the heroes taken care of, the Syndicate quickly retreated into the drill tank, which dug into the ground and disappeared.

As the heroes recovered, the Dash got to his feet first and rushed over to the tunnel that the drill tank had disappeared down.

"I can go after them!" Dash shouted as he moved to run down the tunnel, but was stopped as Mr. Incredible grabbed his shoulder.

"Not by yourself, you can't," Mr. Incredible replied, "None of us can keep up with you and you can't handle them all by yourself."

The Dash looked like he wanted to argue before he sighed in defeat while placing his hands on his hips.

"Come on," Mr. Incredible said as he gestured backwards with his head, "I think our new friends are going to need some help."

As everyone was recovering from the end of the fight, Excelsior raced over to where Kitsune was still kneeling on the ground, skidding to a halt in front of her.

"Riley!" he exclaimed as he wiped off his helmet and threw it on the ground next to him before grabbing hold of Kitsune's shoulders and looking at her with a terrified expression, "Riley are you okay!?"

Slowly, her hands shaking, Kitsune raised her hands and removed her mask, looking back at Hiro with her blue, tear-filled eyes.

"I….I don't know," Riley whispered, her voice hitching as tears began streaming down her face, "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!"

Her words dissolving into sobs, Riley leaned forward and buried her face into Hiro's shoulder, the boy instinctively wrapping his arms around the girl as she gripped the front of his costume and cried uncontrollably.

Standing a short distance away, Ultraviolet watched the scene unfold with a sad expression.

"Violet!" Elastigirl called out as she made her way over to the hero's side.

"Mom!" Ultraviolet replied as she walked over to Elastigirl and embraced her, her mother quickly returning the gesture.

"Are you okay?" Elastigirl questioned as she took a step back and looked her daughter over.

"I'm fine, I've been in worse straights then that," Ultraviolet replied with a smirk that quickly morphed into a worried frown, "But I'm not sure about the others."

Glancing around, she looked at where most of the Big Hero 9 were gathered.

"Fred, Darron and Yuri are pretty beat up," Ultraviolet said before her eyes fell on Tip, who was sitting on the ground with her face in her hands, with Oh putting a comforting arm around her, "And god, Tip. Underminer just tried to….just tried to strangle her."

"We knew that most of these guys were the worst of the worst," Elastigirl replied, her expression troubled, "But I have to admit, even I didn't think that Underminer would stoop that low."

"Baymax looked pretty bad too," Ultraviolet continued as she looked at where the android still lay, Megamind and Doc standing over him with concerned expressions, "I know he's a robot but it sounded like Phantasma was messing with his programming, which I'm sure could be bad."

With that, Ultraviolet looked back at where Hiro was still comforting Riley.

"And God, poor Riley," Ultraviolet whispered, her voice full of sympathy.

"Mezmerella got in her head, right?" Elastigirl questioned, "That can get messy but I'm sure she'll recover."

"It's worse than that though, Mom," Ultraviolet argued, "Riley's a super. She's an empath, a...a psychic, like Mezmerella. I don't know for sure but I'm worried that may have made it worse somehow."

As Ultraviolet wrapped her arms around herself protectively, a thought occurred to her.

"Why are you guys here?" Ultraviolet questioned as she looked at Elastigirl in confusion, "Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but how did you guys know we needed help?"

"We got a call from an old friend of ours," Elastigirl explained.

"Stan," Ultraviolet replied, her eyes widening in realization.

"He wasn't exactly interested in watching his son get beaten to death," Elastigirl said solemnly, "So he gave the AVL a call and we got dispatched."

"Well, thank God for that," Ultraviolet said with a sigh, "Now what do we do?"

"Now?" Elastigirl questioned before looking upwards. Following her mother's gaze, Ultraviolet spotted an aircraft descending to hover over the prison. It was large but sleek, supported by four engines at each of the corners, the bottoms glowing blue as they hung in a VTOL formation.

"Now we head home."

A/N: And that's the end to the big fight. Hope you all enjoyed it! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	19. Medical Care

**Chapter 19: Medical Care**

The sound of the plane engines filled the belly of the vehicle as it shot through the air, largely drowning out the commotion that was happening within. While the plane's cargo hold was relatively large, it was packed with personnel and equipment, leaving space at a premium. Currently, most of the Big Hero 9 were laid up on small cots, while the rest of the heroes were standing around, watching as the medical team that had rode in on the plane worked to see to the Big Hero 9's injuries.

"Sir, if you'd just let me look at-" one of the medics said as she hovered over Hiro.

"Look, I get it, you're just doing your job," Hiro interrupted as he brushed her off, "But despite almost dying I'm actually fine. My friends need your help a lot more than I do, and I need to help him."

As he spoke, Hiro pointed at Baymax, who was currently laying on the floor of the compartment, completely deflated. The medic looked between Hiro and Baymax for a moment before nodding in acquesance and moving away. Hiro watched her go for a moment before sighing and turning his attention back to Baymax.

"H-H-Hiiiiro," Baymax mumbled, his words coming out heavily distorted, his head lolling limply on his neck as he shifted to look at Hiro, "Yooou sh-sh-should be heeelping th-th-the others."

"No, pal, I'm the only one who knows how to fix you," Hiro said as he crouched down next to Baymax, giving the android a reassuring smile before glancing over his shoulder with a frustrated expression, "There's not a lot I can do now to help them."

"I'm alright, I'm alright," Fred insisted as a pair of medics helped him to one of the cots.

"Fred, I saw Oni beat you into the pavement," Violet said as she hovered nearby, still in her costume but with her mask removed, "Let the medics look at you."

"Alright, alright," Fred relented with a sigh as he sat on the cot, allowing the medics to help him out of what remained his costume, "How are you feeling Violet?"

"I'm alright," Violet replied as she wrapped her arms around herself and shrugged, "Yokai didn't land many hits on me. I'm more shaken from having to use my powers so much than anything else."

As the medics set Fred's ruined costume to the side, the young man could only look at it and sigh.

"Happy Hiro made a back up," Fred commented.

"I'm happy he made it tough enough to withstand that beating," Violet said as she watched the medics lift up Fred's shirt to examine his back, causing the young man to let out a small hiss of pain, "If you hadn't been wearing that, you'd be in a lot worse shape."

"I'd say," a voice agreed as Joan Leiber walked over to them, "I almost had a heart attack when I first saw you."

"Mom?" Fred questioned in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think?" Joan replied, crooking an eyebrow at her son before turning her attention to the medic examining Fred as she lowered his shirt, "How does he look?"

"There is some bruising and contusions, doctor," the medic answered, "We should X-Ray him for fractures, but all in all, he seems alright."

"Well, that's good to hear," Joan replied with a sigh, "Why don't you see if you can help with one of the others?"

"Yes, doctor," the medic agreed with a nod before she hurried away.

"How is everyone else?" Violet questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"It depends," Joan answered with a sigh as she looked around at the confines of the aircraft, "Your friend Yuri has a fractured leg, and Darron has a dislocated shoulder along with being a walking bruise. Hiro and your little alien roommate made it out alright, but Tip has some pretty bad lacerations to her throat, and she seems shaken up by the whole thing, poor dear."

"And Riley?" Fred prompted.

Joan paused as she looked over to where Riley was. Currently, she was sitting on one of the cots, her arms wrapped around her legs as she curled into the fetal position. A nearby medic had a comforting hand resting on the girl's shoulder and appeared to be speaking quietly to her, but Riley did not seem to be listening, her red-rimmed eyes staring forward at nothing.

"From what I understand, she went up against some kind of psychic?" Joan questioned as she looked back at Violet, who nodded in confirmation, "Then I honestly don't know what I can do to help. I'm simply not that kind of doctor."

Fred and Violet shared a troubled look at this, before starting in surprise as they felt the aircraft slowdown and jerk about.

"What was that?" Fred questioned as he looked around in confusion.

"I think we just arrived," Violet replied as she looked back at him.

"Arrived where?" Fred asked.

"Oh, just the government's secret superhero bunker," Violet explained with a shrug.

Violet couldn't help but chuckle as Fred stared at her in wide-eyed surprise.

"I suppose this is the part where a welcome you to Home Base," Violet said with a grin as the aircraft began to slowly descend.

A few minutes later, the plane had settled onto a landing pad at the center of Home Base's large, underground hanger, its engines set in a VTOL configuration. The moment after the plane's wheels set down, the door into its cargo plane slid open and the medics quickly began transporting the most injured members of Big Hero 9 off the aircraft via stretchers, directed the whole way by Joan.

With Violet's help, Fred made his way off of the plane. As he stepped off of the loading ramp, he took a moment to look around the hanger in astonishment.

"You say this is built inside a mountain?" Fred questioned, still looking around.

"Yeah," Violet confirmed with a chuckle, "Your tax dollars at work."

"Not bad if you ask me," a new voice said, prompting Fred and Violet to turn their attentions towards it.

"Dad?" Fred asked in surprise as he spotted Stan making his way over to the two of them.

"Hey there, son," Stan replied as he stopped in front of Fred and place a hand on his child's shoulder, "Happy to see you up and about. How are you feeling?"

"A little sore, but not as bad as some of my friends," Fred explained, his expression turning worried, "Do you think they'll be okay?"

"They're under your mother's care now," Stan answered with a reassuring smile, "They're going to be fine."

"Thanks again for calling in the cavalry sir," Violet said as she smiled at Stan, "My mom mentioned you were the one who saved our bacon."

"All I did was make a phone call," Stan replied with a dismissive shrug, "It was your folks and the others who did the important stuff."

"We couldn't have done it if we hadn't been there in time," Bob spoke up as he walked over to the group, now without his domino mask and held his hand out to Stan, "Good to see you again, Stan."

"You too, Bob," Stan replied as he shook Bob's offered hand before he gestured towards Fred, "I think you met my son, Fred, already."

"We bumped into each other in the field," Bob commented with a chuckle as he turned his attention towards Fred and offered his hand, "You're Kaiju, right?"

"You're Mr. Incredible," Fred said, his eyes wide with wonder as he held his hand out but didn't actually take Bob's hand.

"I think that's what you said last time," Bob commented with a chuckle as he took Fred's hand and shook it, "Though when we're out of costume, you can just call me Bob."

"I'm think I'm kind of dating your daughter," Fred blurted out as he continued to stare at Bob, causing Violet's entire face to turn red as Stan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'll try to not hold it against you," Bob replied, clearly trying not to laugh as he did before turning his attention back towards Stan, "How about we go check on the others?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Stan agreed before he and Bob began walking in the direction the medics had headed in.

"Are you kidding me right now!?" Violet hissed as she and Fred followed behind their parents.

"I'm sorry, I panicked," Fred apologized, "He's Mr. Incredible, you know? I wanted to be upfront with him."

"You kill me sometimes," Violet said, sighing as she smiled at Fred, taking his arm to help support him, "You're lucky you're cute."

As the others made their way out of the hanger, Hiro helped the damaged Baymax stumble down the ramp leading out of the aircraft.

"Come on, buddy," Hiro said as he tried to keep Baymax upright as the deflated android stumbled forward, "I'll get you to a workshop or something and get you all fixed up."

"Here, allow me to assist you," a voice said, and as Hiro turned his head toward it, he found Megamind at Baymax's other side, looping one of the android's arms around his shoulder and guiding him down the ramp.

"Oh, uh, thanks but I think I got it," Hiro mumbled in reply as he tried to pull Baymax out of Megamind's grip.

"Please, I inist," Megamind replied before turning his attention away from Hiro and cupping his mouth with his free hand, "Minion!"

"Here, sir!" Minion replied as he came hustling over to them, Hiro blinking in surprise as he took in the bizarre sight of the alien fish and his mechanical body.

"Minion, take our robotic friend here to my workshop," Megamind said as he indicated towards Baymax with his head, "We're going to need to repair him as soon as possible. Get started and our new friend and I will catch up when we can."

"Right away sir," Minion replied with a nod before he turned his attention towards Hiro, "May I?"

Hiro looked uncertainly at Minion for a moment before he turned his attention towards Megamind, who gave him a reassuring smile.

"It will be alright," Megamind insured him, "Minion wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Unless he ordered me to," Minion replied with a warm smile, "Which he hasn't."

"Look, I appreciate the offer, but really, I should be the one to fix him," Hiro said as he tried to gently pull Baymax out of Megamind's grasp again.

"Don't you want to see your friends?" Megamind asked in confusion.

"Why would I want to do that?" Hiro replied, frustration clear on his features, "I can't help them. It's my fault they're in this situation to begin with."

"I would argue that the supervillains who you all fought are at fault," Megamind argued with a quirked eyebrow.

"Maybe," Hiro grumbled, his tone suggesting that he didn't agree with Megamind, but also didn't feel like arguing.

"Come," Megamind insisted, "Let Minion take your robot and we'll go check on your friends. I promise nothing bad will happen to your robot here."

Hiro paused for a moment with a thoughtful look on his face before finally nodding his head at Minion.

"Alright, just let me…." Minion said as he stepped forward, wrapped his arms around Baymax's stomach and hoisted the android over one shoulder. After taking a moment to settle Baymax, Minion nodded at Megamind before he turned and began carrying the android away. As they left, Hiro watched them with a nervous expression while Megamind looked down at him sympathetically.

"He'll be alright," Megamind assured him, "He's a robot after all. Every bit of him is replaceable."

At this, Hiro looked up at Megamind in confusion, prompting the alien to give him an embarrassed smile.

"That was probably the wrong thing to say, wasn't it?" Megamind mused.

"No, it's fine," Hiro answered with a sigh, "I mean, you're right. I've replaced just about everything he has at this point."

"You know, I don't think we've been properly introduced," Megamind commented as he held his hand out to Hiro, "Megamind."

"Excelsior," Hiro replied as he shook Megamind's offered hand, "Though I guess you can just call me Hiro."

"It's good to meet you, Hiro," Megamind replied with a nod before he gestured towards the way out of the hanger, "Why don't we go check on your friends?"

"Yeah," Hiro agreed with a nod and a sigh, "Let's do that."

Together, Megamind and Hiro made their way out of the hanger and into the labyrinthine halls of the base. A few minutes later, the pair walked through a door into the base's medical wing, the grey, concrete floors giving way to white, sterile looking ones. The walls of the hallway were occupied mostly by large windows that looked into various examination rooms containing beds and medical equipment. Medics ran back and forth through the hallway, quickly going in and out of rooms as they went about their business.

Stopping at the first occupied room, Hiro looked in and saw Wasabi laying face down on the bed inside, his armor removed so that the medics could get a better look at his back. Currently, Joan was in the room, looking at some charts that another medic was showing her.

Turning his attention to the room across the hall from Wasabi, Hiro could see Go Go laying on the bed, her armor also removed with her legs elevated. Honey was also in the room, the taller girl sitting in a chair with her helmet off as a medic examined her ears.

Walking to the next set of rooms, Hiro peered into one and saw Tip sitting on the bed inside, the angry bruises on her throat being examined by one of the medics. What Hiro saw in the other room made his blood run cold.

"Riley!" Hiro called as he rushed into the room, causing the girl, who had been sitting alone on the bed, staring at her hands, to look up in surprise.

"Hey," Riley greeted as she let Hiro pull her into a hug.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't with you on the ride here," Hiro apologized as they pulled apart, "After we all got on the plane, I saw how damaged Baymax was and I-"

"It's okay, Hiro," Riley interrupted as she smiled gently at Hiro, "You were there when I needed you but afterwards Baymax needed you more. You're better at fixing machines than anything with…."

At that, Riley trailed off, gesturing vaguely at her own head in an effort to get her point across.

"Yeah, I guess," Hiro agreed with a nod, "How are you feeling, by the way?"

"I….I still don't know," Riley replied, a lost expression spreading over her features as she looked down at her hands again, "I feel….lost in my own head. What happened, what that woman did."

"Mezmerella," Megamind spoke up from where he was standing in the doorway, observing the two children.

"Mezmerella," Riley agreed with a nod, "Those things she showed me. They seemed so real. She made me so convinced that I couldn't breath that my lungs stopped working. Do….Do you know what that feels like?"

After a moment's hesitation, both Hiro and Megamind shook their heads.

"It's terrible," Riley went on with a small shudder, "Feeling your own mind turn against you. Even now, part of me isn't convinced that what I'm seeing is real. That she isn't trying to trick me again. That I'm still not in the prison yard, choking to death."

Hiro looked at Riley in horror for a moment before he reached out and put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"This is real, Riley," Hiro said reasuradely, "I'm here. You're okay."

Riley looked at Hiro for a moment before turning towards him and hugging him again, pulling him tightly against her.

"I'm sorry, Riley," Hiro whispered as he held her tightly.

"Sorry?" Riley questioned in confusion as she pulled away from Hiro, "Sorry for what?"

"This is all my fault," Hiro replied as he lowered his gaze.

"Hiro, no," Riley replied with a shake of her head, "It's the people we fought that did this to us, and even then, we all knew what we were getting into when we became superheroes."

"No, you don't understand," Hiro growled, his hands balling into fists as he raised his gaze to meet Riley's, "That guy, their leader? He stole from me. Took my tech and used it to hurt the people I care about. Used it to break my worst enemy out of prison."

Riley was caught off guard by the sudden blast of anger she felt roll off of Hiro and flinched back as he lowered his gaze again.

"I'll make him pay for that," Hiro mumbled under his breath.

Riley was troubled by this comment and the now boiling rage she felt coming from Hiro, and began reaching towards him.

"Riley!" a voice called from down the hall, snapping the girl out of her thoughts, "Riley, where are you!?"

Looking down the hall in the direction the voices had come from, Megamind spotted Stan leading a group of people towards them. Along with Hiro's Aunt Cass, there were three other people in the group. The one other man in the group was a Caucasian man with dark brown eyes, short brunette hair, a mustache, and stubble on his chin. He had a slim physique over which he wore a grey t-shirt and blue jeans. Next to him was a woman roughly the same age, with Caucasian features, long brown hair that she wore in a ponytail, and light brown eyes that were framed by red glasses. She had a slim physique over which she wore a yellow and grey striped sweater, and tan slacks. The final person was another woman of roughly the same age, with olive skin, brown eyes and brown hair that hung down to her shoulders. She had a slim build over which she wore a white, button-up shirt and blue jeans.

"Mom!?" Riley called in surprise as she looked towards the door while Hiro lifted his head, "Dad!?"

"Riley!" the woman with a ponytail called as she and the man ran down the hall following the sound of the girl's voice.

Stepping to the side, Megamind allowed the man and woman to enter the room. Rushing over to where Riley was, the two adults quickly enveloped the girl in a hug as Hiro moved out of their way.

"Oh my God, Riley!" the woman exclaimed as took the girl's face in her hands and looked her over, "We saw the news and Stan told us what was happening and-"

"Are you alright, monkey?" the man asked as he took one of Riley's hands in his.

"I….I'm not sure," Riley replied, her expression turning stricken, "I'm not hurt, not physically anyway. Not like…."

Riley paused and straightened her neck to look across the hall into Tip's room. Following her gaze, the others could see the other woman they had been with rush into the room and embrace Tip, the girl gripping the woman tightly as she buried her face into her shoulder.

"God, poor Tip and Lucy," Cass said as she stepped into the room, looking into Tip's as she did, before turning her attention towards Hiro.

"Hey Aunt Cass," Hiro greeted as he walked over to the woman, who leaned down and embraced him.

"Please tell me you're alright," Cass said as she pulled back and cupped Hiro's face with her hands, looking at him with a concerned expression.

"A little bruised, but I made it out better than a bunch of the others," Hiro replied, with a shrug.

"See, I hear you saying that, but all I can think about is how some supervillain tried to cut your head off," Cass replied, anxiety seeping into her features.

"I'm….I'm sorry you had to see that, Aunt Cass," Hiro said, his expression stricken, "I never wanted to put you through that. If I could change things so that you didn't-"

"But you can't change things, and I do know," Cass replied as she affectionately ran her hand through Hiro's hair, "I could never ask you to stop. You and your friends help too many people. But a selfish part of me wishes you would all the same. If I lost you too, I don't…."

As Cass trailed off, Hiro quickly stepped forward and embraced her again, the woman eagerly accepting it and pulling the boy tightly against her.

As Megamind watched the scene unfold, a wistful expression crossed his face and he quietly stepped out of the room.

"Meg," a familiar voice said as Megamind walked into the hallway, and he turned to find Roxie approaching him.

"Roxie, hey," Megamind greeted her before accepting her hug.

"Saw you and the team's big debut," Roxie said, a look of concern on her face as she pulled away, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Megamind replied with a sigh as he looked around, "Can't say the same for some of our new friends."

"God, I know that AVL is looking to recruit as many heroes as possible, but these are kids," Roxie said as she crossed her arms over her chest, "And I don't mean that in the usual "I'm getting old and these college students look so young" way. Some of them are actual children!"

"The AVL isn't the one who made them choose this life," Megamind explained, "They chose to become heroes because they wanted to make a difference, like the rest of us."

"I doubt their parents care about that," Roxie observed.

"Probably not," Megamind agreed as he turned to look at Hiro speaking with Cass, "I suppose we'll just have to see what they think when Dicker and the higher ups lay out their plans to them."

Noticing where Megamind was looking, Roxie observed Hiro for a few moments before looking back at the alien.

"You take a shine to that one?" Roxie questioned with a playful tone.

"Perhaps," Megamind answered with a sigh and a shrug as he looked back at Roxie, "If I'm being honest, he reminds me a bit of myself."

"No offence babe, but I'm not sure that's the compliment you think it is," Roxie replied with a smirk, "You did use to be a supervillain, after all."

"I know," Megamind agreed with a nod, a serious look on his face as he looked back at Hiro, "That's what worries me."

A/N: Been awhile, but I'm happy to get another chapter out! Hope you all liked it! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


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